Secret Messages
by sincerely-jessy
Summary: Connor and Maria Standford are brother and sister. They're transferring to Ouran High school. What happens when they meet the host club, and they uncover secrets about their father's death? And will the killer strike again?
1. The First Letter

"Maria! Come down here this instant! You're going to be late for your first day at Ouran High School!" yelled Mom. At that moment I zoomed down the stairs, still brushing my hair and fiddling with the buttons on my coat, only to be met with an evil grin from my _dear_ older brother, Connor.

"Mom! Maria's trying to get all cutesy for the private school boys!" cried Connor. He smirked.

I glared at him. I hated it when he teased me. I made a point of showing this by sticking my tongue out and grabbing the last piece of toast. I watched as his slow reflexes kicked in as he tried to grab for it, but instead was rewarded with a piece of air.

We hopped in the car and headed to Ouran, where we were greeted by...

Wait. Let's backtrack a bit.

Hi, I'm Maria Stanford. I was born on a cold, wintery night. Wait, no that's too far. Where would be the perfect place to start this story? When did this all start? Oh, wait! I remember now. It started back when I became fascinated with the violin. No, fascinated isn't the right word. I became obsessed.

You see, my Dad used to play the violin. I would watch as his hands assertively took control of the bow, gracefully gliding it across the strings. Before hearing my father play, I had no idea such a beautiful sound could exist, in a world that was quite the contrary.

Connor and I would stay up for hours, listening to the wonderful sound. The violin seemed to be the melody that held the chords of my life together. Then all of a sudden, the sound stopped abruptly.

We were listening to father, like any other night, yet this night was different. We went out to a hotel and our dad ordered room service. He drank tea before he played.

Then, it happened. What was supposed to be a G suspiciously sounded like an A flat, then the only sight that greeted my eyes was my dad collapsing to the ground.

On the tray was a bottle of soda my dad had bought for us. I saw something that looked like a letter within it. I took it out, and read my dad's sloppy hand-writing. It said, "Run." My father knew he was going to die, and scribbled a warning for us.

So we ran. Years later we became musical geniuses, got scholarships to Ouran, and were determined to play beautiful music as a dedication to our deceased father. Or at least that's how the world saw it.

In truth, we played music just to survive. It was a half-hearted attempt to recreate the melody our father often played to hold our lives together. Without it, our carefully sheltered world would fall apart.

* * *

When I think of my first day at Ouran, I think of a new beginning. It was rather unusual for a first-year to transfer in the middle of the year. It was even more unusual for this first year to be a commoner. From all the gossip I've heard, apparently the only commoner that went to Ouran besides my brother and I was Haruhi Fujioka.

I quickly discovered that my classes required rigorous attention, and that I would have to study for hours just to keep on top of my studies. At the last period of the day, I was scheduled to go to the band room. I filled out my own registration to join orchestra, and they tried to get me to _rent _a violin. Hah! I was fully prepared with my own. How _dare _they try to make me play with any other instrument besides the one my father bought me?

Sadly, no one else saw it that way. They began to think of me as snooty. Me? They're the snotty rich kids and they think I look down upon _them._ But whatever.

And the worst part was I was pretty sure Connor was off somewhere, having the time of his _freaking _life.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Connor's first day was amazing. He instantly clicked with his science teacher, who dubbed him as the class representative. He made friends with all sorts of kids, ranging from the geeks to the Goths, and just about everyone in between. Before he knew it he was receiving party invitations. He also got asked out a lot that day (7 girls and 3 males) and declined them all, because he wasn't really interested in dating at the moment.

He was scheduled to go to orchestra during 4th period, where he instantly knocked over all the music stands, and caused the class to already think of him as a klutz. But it was fine; he understood that not everyone was going to like him.

At the end of the day he scrambled to find Maria, only to discover that she was talking to a tall man in glasses.

"If you ever want to stop by, I, Kyoya Ootori, will be at your service." said the man, while grabbing Maria's hand.

To Connor, it sounded a lot like a second-year student was trying to hit on his younger sister.

"Hey, pal. You do realize she's a first year, right?" said Connor, all of a sudden showing up on the scene.

"You have it all wrong, Connor. He was inviting me to go to a social event his club is hosting. Apparently, all the girls are into it." she quickly explained, hoping Connor wouldn't overreact.

"You can come too, if you'd like. It probably wouldn't be your scene. Unless, of course, you want to join the club?" said Kyoya, further examining him.

_Hmmm, _he thought, _He's fit, attractive, and has auburn hair that is just to die for. He would make us loads of money, and be a complete hit in the host club._

"Sorry, where have my manners gone? I'm Kyoya Ootori. Second-year Ouran student. Otherwise known as the almost-heir of the Ootori fortune." said Kyoya, extending his hand to shake Connor's.

"Hi, I'm Connor. I'm a second year-student. Um, that's it. We Standfords haven't really done shit with our lives." he casted his eyes down, grinning sheepishly.

All of a sudden a loud cry of despair became apparent as a distressed Tamaki ran over to the scene.

"I beg to differ! Your family is filled with musical geniuses! I've heard your father play once, while I still lived in France." said Tamaki, in his usual dramatic voice.

**Maria's POV**

I slowly found myself remembering a smiling blonde boy, being led into the music center with his mother. This was two years ago, when my father rented that hotel room in France. He played at the music center for fun, not profit. In fact, that was the last time he played in public before he died. I still remember the look of sheer amazement on the boy's face as he rushed over to my father and asked for an autograph. My father was flattered, and I discovered I was smiling. My father's music brought joy to just about everyone.

"I remember you." I found myself saying, "You're Tamaki Suoh. "

"Your father was brilliant. He puts my music to shame." Tamaki commented.

"You play?" I asked.

"Well, a little piano here and there. It's not anything special. Would you like to hear me play sometime?" he offered.

"Sure." I smiled. After a while I finally noticed Kyoya and Connor talking to another person. This person had a girlish figure, yet seemed to have on a male uniform. I was almost certain this person was a girl. I stared for a while, still trying to determine which one it was.

The person swiftly turned around, and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Haruhi Fujioka." she said with a smile.

"Hi, Haruhi. If you don't mind me asking, why are you dressed up like a boy?" I probed; amazed since this was the first cross-dresser I have ever met.

The atmosphere grew silent. There seemed to be heaviness in the air, pressing on everyone's lungs, preventing them from talking. I thought my speculation was innocent enough, and I honestly didn't see the cause for such a drastic change in otherwise happy spirits.

"How did you know?" was all Tamaki could ask, amazed.

Haruhi then chimed in, saving me from having to explain my deduction process.

"Well, I am a girl, Tamaki. Does it make you unhappy that other people know?" she teased.

"No! Daddy only wants the best for his little girl! He wants the whole world to be proud of who she is!" he said goofily, grasping Haruhi into an uncomfortable hug.

"You're not my Dad!" she found herself yelling.

"Why would Haruhi say such a horrible thing to her Father? Is this some kind of teenage phase?" he asked, nearly falling over from shock.

Haruhi was muttering something under her breath, and Kyoya was smiling, enjoying the display. I gazed at Connor, and he looked confused as always.

"So...you're a girl." he said in relief. _Phew! At least I don't have to worry about finding her attractive, _He thought.

It seemed like I just met everyone that was worth knowing in the school. Boy was I wrong.

* * *

The second day went by just as uneventfully, until it became lunch time. Just when I went to sit at a table by myself, I felt myself being whisked away by two people. I looked up to see a set of twins. They had a devious twinkle in their eyes and a mischievous smirk displayed across their face. Normally, I would think I was about to get stuffed in a locker, but there was something friendly behind those identical faces.

"So you're Maria Standford." they both said simultaneously examining me. I felt like a frog being dissected for a science class. It's as if they knew my whole life story just by one glance.

"It appears you were sitting alone." One of them said.

"We can't have that." said the other.

I heard footsteps and recognized Haruhi's voice behind us.

"I apologize for this. Once Hikaru and Kaoru set their minds to something..." she started.

"Nothing can stop us." the freaky twins finished, together again. By the looks of it, I figured I better get used to them saying things together. It was a given. Before all this, I thought twins only did that on TV.

I could gladly state that my stay at Ouran Academy changed a lot of the ways I viewed the world. Little did I know that these people would grow to be my friends. And how could I have possibly predicted the danger that lie ahead.

"Let me properly introduce myself." said one of the twins, "I'm Hikaru, _always _at your service." He punctuated his sentence with a kiss to the back of my hand_._

_"_And I'm Kaoru. It's a _pleasure _to meet you." said the other twin, snaking an arm around my shoulder.

The twins made me uncomfortable but I found them likeable. In a little while I would learn that's how they treated _everyone._

"No!" Haruhi suddenly stormed, "The first one is Kaoru. And the second one his Hikaru."

At that the two twins frowned, making a tisk, tisk motion at her. I found this funny and laughed.

"Why do you always ruin the fun?" asked Kaoru.

"Jealous?" Hikaru dared to suggest.

Haruhi rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I'm jealous that I'm not being harassed." she muttered.

Lunch pretty much went by that way, with the twins bombarding me with questions and teasing, and Haruhi always trying to come to my rescue, and then they would bombard her with teasing and questioning. It took only a short lunch period to realize how weird the twins were.

I found that all three of them were reinviting them to their club meeting, just as Kyoya had been doing yesterday. Out of all the excitement, I never thought to ask what this club was.

When I did, Kaoru's or Hikaru's (I'm not sure which one) mouth turned upward into an even wider grin.

"We're a little something I'd like to call the Ouran high school host club." the pumpkin-haired twin responded.

* * *

At the end of the day I made a quick stop by my locker to put away my books. Although I noticed a piece of paper taped to the inside of my locker.

Completely ignoring the fact that someone broke into my locker, I grabbed the letter and read it out loud.

Note:

_Stay away from the host club! They're dangerous! Stay away!_

I immediately laughed at the note, and crumbled it up, and made a big show of throwing it in the garbage can across the hall.

"And the crowd goes wild!" I simulated a sports-announcer. Then I headed down to the abandoned music room.

**Out of Maria's P.O.V.**

Connor almost left the school to go home then remembered about the event his sister was invited to. He quickly found the music room, this being good considering he was late, and was instantly greeted with rose petals, fancy harp music, and sparkly lighting.

He instantly burst into a coughing fit. He was allergic to roses. The music stopped and his sister came running across the room.

"Take deep breaths! In and out, in and out." she instructed.

When Connor's respiratory system finally went back to normal, he witnessed what was going on around the room. Girls were giving money for these boys.

He initially thought the worst, and Maria's explanation didn't help.

"Girls pay money to be entertained by cute guys! Isn't it great?" she exclaimed.

Connor's eye-twitched and he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Maria asked.

"This is prostitution!" Connor yelled, loud enough for the whole room to hear.

It was then that Honey awoke from his nap, rubbing his eyes. He yawned cutely, causing a bunch of girls to fawn over his adorable nature. He stretched, and almost fell over, putting a hand out to steady himself.

"What's prostitution?" he asked innocently, looking up at Mori.

Mori's eyes temporarily went wide then returned to their normal state. "Nothing."

Kyoya slowly made his way across the room, soon being eye to eye with Connor.

"That's a shame, because we figured you would want to join us." he said in an uninterested tone. But that was just typical Kyoya.

Maria couldn't help but gasp. She wondered if her brother understood the implications of that offer. Being a host would be amazing for anyone. And to think that Connor got a chance to join this wacky brother/sisterhood. So Maria found herself frowning in disdain when her brother said, "No, it's not my thing."

Kyoya dragged them both into the hallway, making sure they were out of earshot. Then he dropped the bomb.

"Maria, I hope you wouldn't mind being a host in his place." he said.

**Maria's P.O.V.**

Despite my brother's protests, I found myself accepting the offer. My Dad always said to live life to the fullest, and boy, this was me trying. How many people in the world, especially girls, ever got the honor of saying they were a part of a host club? Well, so far only two.

Of course, the school already knew me as Maria, so I would have to change outfits before each club meeting, and create an alternate persona.

"Mario? Nope. Mike? Nah. Mark?" I said to myself in the mirror, while sliding on the pants to my uniform, "Bingo." I smiled, while smoothing down my short wig.

* * *

It was two days later that I found myself being officially introduced to the costumers. I sat there with a proud smile as Tamaki introduced me as Mark Cranford.

When I was entertaining my first guest, I went to take a sip of tea. It was then that I saw a note placed on the tray, addressed to Maria.

_It couldn't be from a costumer, _I thought as I opened the note.

What it said caused me to drop my cup of tea all over my client's shirt.

Note:

_**Dear Maria,**_

_**It does appear that we meet again. You might not remember me. You see, I was in the hotel room that night when your father was poisoned. I had to stay back to watch the labors of my work. Poor little Maria, she wasn't able to save her father. And if you don't figure out who I am in time, you won't be able to save your brother, your friends, or even yourself.**_

_**I look forward to seeing your failed efforts in the future. And I can't wait to have you in my grasp, and finally get the chance to kill you like I should have done two years ago. I had an opportunity to do it before, but this way is just ten times more fun.**_

_**Good luck **__**Mark**__**-you're going to need it,**_

_**Anonymous**_

I stared in shock at all of the friendly faces of the host club. This person knew my true identity. That only meant...that someone in the Ouran High School Host Club... was a murderer.

* * *

All of a sudden everyone was a suspect. I kept that in mind as I sat at the lunch table with the twins and Haruhi the next day.

"Why are you acting so weird today, Maria?" said Hikaru.

"Are you afraid of us now?" asked Kaoru.

"I wouldn't blame her. Your scary people." commented Haruhi. No matter what I did, I couldn't bring myself to hate the loveable trio. Their antics always brought a smile to my face, and their indirect way of asking questions showed that they all cared.

"It seems that Maria has a secret." Hikaru declared.

"A _dirty _secret." Kaoru suggested.

"Just ignore them. If you're not feeling okay I'll take you to the nurse." Haruhi offered.

"But the nurse can't cure the guilt she feels inside!" said the twins.

I love how they're so convinced I have some deep, dark secret. My life was basically an open book, and this was the first time anything along the lines of this has ever happened to me. An undercover murderer wasn't something I actually saw coming. But other than that, I was just too average to have any secrets.

"What guilt? It's not like she's having an affair!" declared Haruhi.

An invisible light bulb instantly went off in Hikaru's head. If I listened hard enough, I could almost hear the little "ding"!

"You know, I never thought of it that way, Haruhi. Thanks for clearing that up. It's very obvious that Maria has a boyfriend...who plays the cello!" Hikaru started to fantasize.

"But then she met a charming fellow, who plays the viola. They fell in love at first sight, and he whisked her away to a lovely mansion, in Paris!" continued Kaoru.

"Wait, wait, wait! Your story isn't making any sense! If I went all the way to Paris, I wouldn't be back in time. Let's say I went back to his place." I explained to them.

Haruhi looked like she was nearly about to explode when she gasped, "Why do you even encourage them?"

I simply laughed. One thing I've found out in my few short days at Ouran is, sometimes it's just better to go with the crowd.

They both chuckled in delight, and eventually even Haruhi was joining in the fun. By the end of lunch we discovered that I had a childhood friend named Chad, who played the cello. I fell in love with him as we got older, and we went out. Then Brad (whose name rhymes with Chad's), sang me a beautiful Serenade while playing his viola. According to the twins, I plan on secretly marrying Brad, and we're going to run away together, and live in Florida.

Honestly, it would be kind of fun if my life was even half as scandalous as the twins seemed to think. Their imaginations were great, and they should focus all that energy into something constructive. By the end of the day I almost completely forgot about my dilemma.

* * *

I was humming a happy tune as I went to my locker to retrieve my other uniform, and my wig. I stuffed it in a bag and practically skipped down an empty hallway. At that point I was pretty sure that the note was some cruel prank being pulled, and that I had nothing to worry about.

Although my opinion changed when about five minutes later some masked dude knocked into me, and pushed into a closet. I was almost certain this was the murderer I was trying to defeat.

I just knew I should have taken those karate classes years ago.

"Hey, person! I don't know what you think you're doing but I kind of have somewhere to go. So if you don't mind..." I started to walk out of the door and was stopped instantly.

"Who are you? Are you the one trying to kill me? Messing with me is one thing, but leave my friends and my brother out of it!" I yelled.

At this the person chuckled, and proceeded to remove their mask. My eyes grew wide in anticipation and what was only mere seconds felt like hours. I first saw a flash of perfect white teeth, then a bit of hair, only two reveal a pair of goofy eyes.

"Tamaki?" I yelled in surprise, "You're the murderer?"

He instantly recoiled at this and looked like he was about to cry.

"Is that how you think of me, as a human being capable of murder? I would expect better than that from you, Maria. In fact, I'm here for quite the opposite reason." he exclaimed, trying to sound valiant.

"And what would that be?" I questioned skeptically.

"I'm here to protect you. Obviously you didn't heed my warning the other day." he answered, referring to the note he stuffed in my locker.

"That was you?" I asked, surprised Tamaki was smart enough to break the code of a lock.

"Yes. If you haven't figured it out yet, you're in danger. I've been sent on a mission to protect you and..." He started, but I interrupted him.

"Mission? What's going on?" I exclaimed, frustrated that I couldn't keep up with everything he was saying.

"We're running out of time, we're expected at the host club. I'll explain everything soon enough." he hastily whispered as we heard footsteps approaching in the hallway. As soon as they disappeared we both came bursting out into the hallway.

He breathed in and out, considering the air was very dirty in the closet.

"Next time we need to have an urgent meeting...remind me to _not _conduct it in a closet." he said, still wheezing.

As we walked down the hallway I asked, "What exactly was the point of that mask?"

He looked at me as if I just asked a stupid question and it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wearing a mask is fun!" he exclaimed.

**A/N:** Yay! first chapter is completed. hope you liked it xD. HI STEPH!


	2. The First Encounter

Time flew by and before I knew it I had already been a host for a week. Tamaki never found time to explain his "mission" and no one else was acting suspiciously. My life was becoming extremely busy. Between the host club, regular classes, orchestra, and my brother, I wasn't sure which one was going to drive me crazy first.

"You know, I think everyone in the host club got plastic surgery. They do have the money for it, after all. They'll probably make u get a nose job or something! If anyone comes near you with a scalpel, run, understand me?" babbled on Connor, while we watched TV in our living room.

"Calm your tits, Connor. They're not like that. Sounds to me like you're jealous of their natural beauty." I responded mockingly.

"I was the one who got the offer to join that wacko club. I think you're the jealous one." he accused.

"And who was offered to take your place? Oh, that's right. Me!" I retorted.

"Which means your second best." he said.

"You..." I had nothing to say to that. He was right, but he was still stupid.

Our mom came bursting through the door, hastily trying to put on a shoe, and smoothing out her shirt.

"I'm sorry, I know I said I was going to watch a movie with you guys, but I just got called in to work again. They have this new employee and she's a dumb bitch..." my mom started, but I didn't hear the rest when Connor went to cover my ears.

I hit him and gave him a glare, "I'm not five."

My mom just laughed, kissed us both on the forehead, and headed out the door.

"Yes! She's gone!" cried Connor and me at the same time.

Connor was going to some party that all of the third years were going to. He was probably going to be one of the youngest people there, but he was invited anyways. And I wasn't.

"Wait, why are _you _yes-ing?" he said, giving me his what-the-hell-is-she-planning look.

"I'm going somewhere with Tamaki." I told him.

"That blonde kid? Oh, okay. You had me worried for a second. I thought you were going to hang out with that Kyoya guy." He said with a shiver.

"First, Kyoya's a cool guy. Second, Tamaki and I are just discussing club business." I clarified.

"Oh, trust me, I wasn't worried. I'm pretty sure he's gay." he said.

"I'm pretty sure you're gay." I muttered under my breath as I headed out of the door.

* * *

Later on I got to the café Tamaki told me about. I saw he was already there, chatting up the waitress. By the time I sat down he had a smug grin on his face, and slyly said, "We'll be receiving all of our orders...for _free._"

I high-fived him. Although I knew it was wrong to use one's looks to get what you want, I just couldn't ignore that level of accomplishment.

I took a good look around the café and realized it was a pretty nice place. Tamaki saw me looking around and commented, "I thought this would be a better place to meet than a closet."

"You were correct. And whoa! No mask this time?" I asked.

"Well, people don't exactly approve of wearing masks in public. One of the many things wrong with our society." He frowned.

All of a sudden he lost his goofy personality and got serious while he said, "Now, we have a lot to discuss."

I cleared my throat, scooted my chair under the table, and tried to have a serious face on. I wasn't really used to this kind of thing, so I couldn't help control the big ass smile that spread across my face. It's a sad day when Tamaki Suoh can be more serious than me.

"Well, let's start with the stuff you already know." he said at last, "Your father died two years ago while on vacation with you and your brother in France. It seems as if he was poisoned."

"Yes." I confirmed, "Then a couple of days ago, I got a note while in the host club." I pulled it out and gave it to him.

He read it and as he did so the creases in his forehead deepened and he looked up with worried eyes. Tamaki knew there was a killer, but had no idea they would be so direct about the situation.

"According to this note, it seems most likely that the killer is someone at Ouran who found out your identity, or one of the host club members." he concluded, the same as I had.

"Now, what's your role in all of this?" I asked.

He cleared his throat then launched into a long story about the complications with his family, and how in a result he was no longer allowed to see his mother in France, and was forced to move to Japan.

"All of a sudden, I was offered a job interview with this mysterious organization. They said that by working with them, I would eventually be able to see my mother again. Sure, it was a bribe, but I couldn't turn down the offer. This strange organization trained me to be an agent, and started sending me on missions. They were small things at first, such as catching burglars and keeping surveillance on the people they thought needed watching. To tell you the truth, this is my first big case." he paused, to watch my face for any reaction to his story.

"So, why am I deemed worthy by this organization to be protected?" I asked.

"That is something I _can't _tell you." he said, "Well, at least not yet."

"Can I have a hint?" I asked.

Tamaki looked around then whispered, "This organization has employees everywhere. That waitress over there can be an agent. So can that three year old little girl. We're never _truly _alone. If I let anything confidential slip, someone will report it."

I nodded to show I understood, and then I started looking around the restaurant. This was crazy. Judging from what Tamaki was saying, anyone could have been a spy. It kind of gave me the creeps.

"So, back to the case." he said, after a while.

"So, is there anyone in the host club safe from suspicion?" I asked.

"No. Everyone's a suspect," he pouted, "Including my little Haruhi."

"So, what can we do?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Nothing we can do, but watch and wait."

"Yeah. Watch and wait to see who gets killed first." I muttered.

"Hey, kiddo. Don't be such a downer. No one's going to die." he said, "Not today, anyways."

We got our order, finished talking, and then headed our separate ways before it got too dark. After all, we did have school the next day.

**Out Of Maria's POV**

Haruhi Fujioka was in for another late night of studying. Her dad was at work, yet she still felt a presence in the house. Worried, she went downstairs and found that her kitchen light was on. She grabbed onto the nearest weapon she could find, which was a mop. Stealthily, she sneaked into the kitchen, but was greeted by a familiar face.

"Oh thank God," she said in relief, "What are you doing here?"

The student had a weird grin on their face, and Haruhi started to get nervous.

"Are you okay? Are you lost or something?" she asked, always concerned for others.

The student slowly shook their head, and then took a knife from behind their back and lunged at Haruhi.

Haruhi gasped and evaded the attack, picking up her mop and delivering a few swift hits to her attacker's torso.

The attacker quickly realized that Haruhi wasn't going to be an easy kill, and settled for hitting her on the head. When Haruhi lost consciousness, the attacker escaped.

**Maria's POV**

I was getting ready for bed when I heard my phone ring. When I saw the caller ID I quickly regretted giving Kaoru my number. I picked up and said in a half sleepy voice, "What Kaoru? Do you realize what time it is?"

"Maria! Come to Westside Hospital! Quickly! Haruhi's been hurt!" said Kaoru, sounding as if he was on the verge of tears.

That woke me up immediately. I got up, got dressed, and took a taxi down to the hospital. In the lobby was the whole host club and Haruhi's dad (I would question why he had make-up on later).

Me and Tamaki met eyes briefly, and we both had a look that said, "All of this is our fault."

After a while of waiting, a nurse walked in saying, "Haruhi will be fine. She just has a minor concussion."

Everyone let out a breath that they hadn't even realized they were holding. After hearing good news, Tamaki left for the "bath room" and motioned for me to follow.

"I, um, also have to use the bathroom." I said before scurrying off.

When we were sure we were out of earshot I turned to him, "I guess this means Haruhi's off the list of suspicion."

"I knew no daughter of mind would dare to commit such treason!" he said proudly.

"Back to Earth Tamaki!" I said while flicking his forehead. Then he told me what he found out.

"So, apparently, Hikaru went to Haruhi's house to pick up something, then found the door was wide open. He walked in and found Haruhi in the kitchen, passed out. He then dialed 911, told Kaoru, and Kaoru alerted everyone." he said, summarizing events.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked.

"Definitely." he said.

Our top suspects were now Hikaru and Kaoru. Mostly Hikaru, considering he's the one who "found her."

I felt mixed feelings about this new found information. Of course I was happy we finally had suspects, but the twins are my friends. I didn't feel comfortable with the situation.

"Why can't we just let the police handle this?" I asked, after a minute of silence.

"I have strict orders. No police. Besides, they always rush the job anyway. We need careful analyze to figure this out." he explained.

We headed back to the lobby to discover Haruhi was awake. Tamaki and I went out of our way to make sure we were the second ones to see her, first being her father.

The feminine man came out with a look of shock on his face.

"What's wrong?" Tamaki asked. The man was so worried that he had momentarily forgotten his hatred for Tamaki.

"She...has memory loss." he started but then saw everyone's eyes go wide, "Nothing serious. She just can't remember anything that happened, including how she got hurt."

"Damn." I said under my breath. We basically lost our only lead. But Tamaki wasn't even showing disappointment as he rushed into Haruhi's room yelling, "Haruhiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"Oh lord," Kyoya said, "Typical Tamaki."

I nodded my head in agreement.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Haruhi gazed up, happy to see Tamaki in her door way. Sure, he wouldn't exactly be classified as normal, and maybe he was slightly delusional, but Haruhi still considered him a close friend. When she heard that familiar voice saying, "Oh Daddy was so worried!" she couldn't help but sigh. In a way, Tamaki represented the host club. He was goofy, yet passionate. He reminded Haruhi of bad times, as well as fun ones. So when Tamaki stood there, she couldn't help but smile.

"No one's ever going to hurt you again." he said, holding onto her hand.

"Sure, Tamaki. Like you can protect me from the world." she said, reluctant of his statement.

"I can. And I will." he said, his relieved features growing serious. He then left.

**Maria's POV**

All of a sudden I was getting a call from Connor. He sounded tired, yet happy.

"The party was awesome! Except for the fact that Hikaru and Kaoru crashed it." said my brother.

This caught my attention.

"What? They crashed it?" I asked.

"Yeah, totally. Then Hikaru left at around eleven to go to Haruhi's house." he said.

So far, the twin' story was matching up with Connor's. But there was still a possibility they were responsible. There was only one thing that needed to be confirmed.

"What time do you think the patient received her injuries?" I asked the nurse.

"Um, according to the files, I'd say about ten." she said.

"You sure not eleven?" I asked.

"Definitely not. If it was at eleven, she wouldn't have showed evidence of starting to heal." the nurse clarified.

That meant Hikaru and Kaoru were innocent. I told Tamaki of my newfound information, then Connor retrieved me from the hospital.

I told Connor about Haruhi's attack, but still told him nothing of the note, Tamaki's identity, or anything else. I decided against it.

"Whoa. I hope she turns out alright." he said.

"Yeah."

* * *

A couple of days later things were more or less back to normal. I was a getting ready for a host club meeting when I discovered yet another note in the pants of my uniform.

Note:

**This is a pretty interesting turn of events. I wonder who's responsible for Haruhi's attack. It certainly wasn't me. Well anyway, when will you catch me? Your time is running out.**

**Love,**

**Anonymous**

I stared at the note. The killer was obviously messing with me. Haruhi had never been attacked before all of this started. He knew I was onto him, and coming closer to finding out who he was, so he had to resort to lying. I rushed to tell Tamaki my new discovery when I was stopped by a hand.

I looked up to see Kyoya looking down at me.

"Well, where are you in a hurry to with that note?" he asked.

**A/N: **Chapter 3 is coming up really soon :D.


	3. The First Dance

Totally dedicated to : **LunaBlacklovespie **because she's awesome xD

* * *

Kyoya tried to make a grab for the note but I hid it behind my back.

I was almost tempted to tell Kyoya the truth. Almost. I quickly remembered that he could be the killer, and he was trying to find out who my accomplice was. I couldn't put Tamaki in danger. So I did the only thing I could do.

I swallowed the letter.

Kyoya gave me a disgusted facial expression and then said, "You know, if you were hungry, I would have just bought you food."

I gave him a sheepish grin and we both started walking down the hall.

"So, how do you like our school so far?" asked Kyoya, trying to make conversation.

"Honestly, it's not that great. I hate the classes, and orchestra is the worst! Hanging out with you guys is usually the highlight of my day." I found myself admitting. Kyoya just had that affect on people. He makes you feel as if he's trust worthy, and that if anything happened, he would keep it a secret. I didn't know if this was true or not, but I just had this feeling.

"Wow. Well, I can tell that's a great compliment, coming from you." he said, having what looked like the ghost of a smile on his face.

"What do you mean by 'coming from me'?" I asked.

"Well, you're obviously hard to impress. Your one of the few people who find flaws in Ouran Highschool. As far as I know, there's only one other." he explained.

"And who's that?"

"Me." he admitted.

"What don't you like about it?" I asked, interested to see the laid-back Kyoya finally have an opinion.

"The fact that they make it so hard for commoners to attend," he then looked at me, "Maybe if they did, there would be more people like you and this school would be a little more bearable place."

It took me a good minute to realize this was Kyoya's way of complimenting me.

I wanted to say thank you, but we were already at the music room.

* * *

After a long day of dealing with customers, I found myself being picked up by each arm and whisked away.

"Holy crap I didn't do it I swear!" I protested, until I realized it was the twins, "Oh, it's you two. Then in that case, yeah, I did it. What do you want?"HOLY CRAP I DIDN'T DO IT I SWEARHOLY CRAP I DIDN'T DO IT I SWEAR

They didn't respond so I just asked casually, "Where will you be kidnap- I mean taking me on this fine day?"

"We wanted to show you something." they explained in unison.

After a couple of minutes we made it to the computer lab, where Haruhi was already sitting at a computer. When she saw Hikaru and Kaoru carrying me she got up at of her chair and started protesting.

"I told you guys to _ask _her to come here. _Ask. _Not kidnap her." complained Haruhi.

"Ask?" the twins said, as if this was a new concept for them.

Haruhi rubbed her temples as if she had a headache coming on, then she looked at me apologetically.

"It's fine. Now what is it you guys wanted to show me?"

"Well, you know that project we have for Mr. Yagami?" asked Haruhi.

"You mean the one where we had to do a biography on someone famous?" I asked.

"Yeah. Well, they wanted to write it about your 'life story'." she said, sounding as if she was skeptical of the whole idea.

"And we already started! But we need your help for the beginning. We only have the now." said Kaoru.

"You guys do know you have to write it about someone famous, right?" I asked.

"I tried to tell them!" Haruhi interjected.

The Hitachiins both looked at each other, their mouths gaped open in shock, and then they had the nerve to look at me as if I was some idiot.

After an uncomfortable moment of silence Hikaru spoke. "But you _are_ famous. Everyone in this school knows who you are, which means all of our parents know who you are. And our parents are some of the richest people in Japan. If _they _know who you are, the commoners do as well."

When he explained it that way, he made it sound as if I was some sort of celebrity.

I finally gave in, and looked at what they wrote so far. Although none of it was true, and they still insisted on my Brad/Chad relationship, it was actually really good.

"Hey, look at the bright side. If they fail the project they can make this into a book." commented Haruhi.

Of course, the twins both missed the hidden diss in that statement and high-fived each other.

I stayed with them for the next hour so I could give them a summary of my child-hood. Of course, they changed it around to make it as drama filled as possible. Haruhi was forced to stay because the twins heard her father wasn't home again, and forbade her from ever staying home alone.

_I can't believe I thought one of them was the attacker, _I thought to myself, _they obviously care about Haruhi's well being._

While I was walking out I saw Mori walking around _without _Honey. That looked extremely suspicious, so I followed him. I thought I was onto something when I saw him go down the hallway where my locker was located. Then, instead of proceeding to break into my locker, he went into the boy's bathroom located next to it.

I sighed. I've been doing a lot of that lately. Sometimes I just felt like giving up all together. Every time I think I have a lead, I'm wrong. Even Tamaki can't seem to dig up any more dirt, and he's trained for this kind of stuff. Then my mind always flashed back to that letter, and the fact that all of my friends and my brother were in danger. It made me picture my life without one of them, and I just couldn't do it. I didn't want to lose any of them.

Yet, after thinking it over, I realized how unfair the situation was. Whether I found out who the killer was or not, I was going to lose one of my friends. If I didn't find the killer, my friends could get hurt. If I did find the killer, one of my friends would be sent to jail. It was a lose/lose situation.

While I was walking down the hallway my cell phone rang. It was Tamaki, and he sounded distressed. Well, I mean more than usual.

"Maria! I, um, need you too..." his voice was cut off by a female voice in the back round.

"Would you shut up?" he yelled then quickly said, "No! I didn't mean it!"

I was confused with the situation and stayed silent to here Tamaki protest against "resorting to violence" and that it was "a slip of the tongue". Then he got back on the phone.

"Just come to the front porch of your house. I have someone for you to meet." he sounded dreadful.

* * *

A couple of minutes later I arrived to see Tamaki fearfully watching a very angry person yell at him. I would have laughed if this wasn't all occurring on my front porch. I quickly rushed up to the scene and gave them a piece of my mind.

"Are you two _insane_? My brother is inside of there, and if he hears you two yelling he will march out with nothing but boxers and bed sheets on. You will _never _be able to erase the site from your mind. So, please, I'm begging you. Shut up." I lectured.

After a while the woman reached her hand out to me, "Hi, I'm Stephanie Clark. You must be Maria Standford."

I looked this woman up and down. She looked very clean-cut and professional. I gave Tamaki a questioning look and he simply shrugged.

"Hi, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" I questioned in a very polite way.

I instantly regretted it when she started to launch into her whole life story.

"Well, you see, I was a wee lad who was born in Ireland. My parents moved to the U.S. when I was five. I got accepted into a private school in Japan when I was ten..." she started.

"Summary, please."

"Well, as of now I'm a part of the same organization as Tamaki. Tamaki and I used to be partners, but I've moved up in the ranks. Now he's partner-less, and I'm his new boss." she explained.

"I don't know how she does it. She's only one year older than me and she has superiority over some agents in their thirties." Tamaki said, obviously flabbergasted.

"Do you wish to know my secret, Tamaki?" she asked in a sweet voice.

He nodded, eager to find out her methods. She cupped her hands around her mouth and slowly started leaning towards him, as if getting ready to tell him a secret, then she said...

"TOO BAD!"

He pouted and crossed his arms, and said with the most attitude he could muster, "What are you even _doing _here anyway?"

She simply laughed and ruffled his hair, then started speaking in a baby voice, "Who's my little punk? Who? You are!"

I watched this go on for about three minutes until he started to swat her hand away and fix his hair.

"I haven't been busy lately, and do you think I would pass up a chance to visit my old partner?" she asked.

"I wish you would." he said bluntly.

"Of course you do. So, how's your case going? I heard this was your first big one! My little rookie is growing up." she smiled proudly and dramatically started to dab at her eyes with a handkerchief.

"It's going fine, thank you very much. If that's all you came to say, you can leave now." he lied.

"Really? Because from what I've heard, your fresh out of leads." she got in Tamaki's face and pointed to him, "Face it, Suoh, you _need _me."

He put a hand in her face, "I _need _personal space, thank you very much"

They started to argue aggressively, and I figured they forgot I was there. This angered me since they were progressively getting louder again, and I wanted to avoid my brother coming outside at all costs.

"Won't you guys just admit that you both need each other and work out something? But please, not here. Tamaki, there's a closet at school with your name on it." I said eager to get the noisy pair off of my porch.

"Like I would ever get in a closet with _her_!" Tamaki exclaimed

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Tama, I'm leaving. Oh, and FYI, I'll be undercover a teacher at Ouran until your case is over. Bye now." she announced, and then she daintily skipped away from the porch and down the street until we couldn't see her anymore.

"B-B-But! She can't be a teacher! She's only eighteen!" he said in disbelief.

"She's not going to be a teacher, silly. She's an _undercover _teacher. Big difference." I explained.

He shook his head in disbelief and half-heartedly waved at me, saying in a dazed voice, "I'll...see you in the morning."

**Out of Maria's POV**

Little did Maria know that the killer looked directly at them, watching that whole scene. The killer smiled. No, it wasn't sadistic smile, nor was it triumphant. It was a rueful smile, almost regretful. What you don't understand is that, the killer doesn't want it be who they are. Yet there wasn't much choice in the matter. The killer would continue to be what they were, always wearing a regretful smile on their face, and always looking to the past for scattered shards of comfort.

* * *

The next day Connor woke up out of bed. He started moving his stiff neck around, and stretching his arms as he yawned. He didn't get a good sleep last night. He ended up staying up all night to practice a piece on his violin. No one can truly understand how much he cherished the violin. It was as if the instrument was a window to his true nature. Through music it told stories that words could not express. It held secrets that man would never know. It knew the story of his birth, and it knew how he would die. The violin was his very reason for living.

That would cause one to wonder why he was considering quitting. The wooden instrument held too many painful memories of the past. And it would carry that pain on into the future. As much as he loved the violin, he didn't know whether or not it was worth compromising his sanity.

**Maria's POV**

I was really stressed that night. I found that I couldn't go to sleep, until I heard the sweet melody of the violin. Each note was rich and pierced the still air of the night. If I closed my eyes and wished hard enough, I could almost imagine it being my father. I wondered when Connor learned to play so well, but before I could even ask him, I found myself falling asleep, each tender note cradling me, sending me into a deeper abyss of peace and solitude.

When I woke up Connor was already at the kitchen table. He seemed to be in a sour mood, which was rare for him. I looked up at him and built the courage to say, "I heard you play last night. It was beautiful. What piece was it?" I asked.

"Never Meant to Belong." he said.

"You mean that song from Bleach?" I asked, sort of smiling. My brother used to love the manga and the anime as a kid.

He nodded, staring into his cup of coffee.

"I have to head to school early. Kyoya said it was really urgent. Will you be okay here?" I asked.

"I'll...be fine. You know me. Mr. Sunshine!" he assured me.

Great. He was so upset he didn't even find the time to say something bad about Kyoya.

"Give me a smile."

He flashed his cheesiest grin, which made me laugh as I headed out of the door.

* * *

When I got to school no one else was there until I made it to the music room. Everyone from the host club was assembled, the only one being fully awake being Kyoya. Honey still had his pajamas on.

"Why are we here?" asked Hikaru.

"I thought we were the ones who were supposed to take people places against their will." said Kaoru.

"I would like to announce that the host club will be hosting a dance competition." said Tamaki, yawning.

"In this dance competition, everyone will be allowed to enter. It's an open school event." Kyoya explained.

Everyone instantly got excited except me. The thing is, I didn't know how to dance. Haruhi gave me a sympathetic look and said, "That's alright. I didn't know how to dance at first either. Believe it or not, the best dancer here is Kyoya. He takes lessons. Maybe you should enter the competition as a girl, with Kyoya as your partner." she suggested.

Overhearing this, Kyoya walked over to us and said politely, "I have no problem teaching you how to dance. It would be my pleasure."

That marked the start of my dance lessons.

* * *

A couple of days later Kyoya and I scheduled a private meeting in the ball room. I had my female uniform on, and I made sure to pick up a pair of dancing shoes. Kyoya had everything removed from the room so that we would have more space to work with. The _clank, clank _of my shoes bounced off of the walls, magnifying the sound times ten.

"So, what kick ass dance shall I be learning this evening?" I asked once I made it to the center of the room where he stood.

"We," he started then flicked out a remote control, "Shall be learning the tango." He pressed a button and music started to play. He suddenly grabbed me, one hand going around my waist, while the other took a firm grasp of my hand.

"The tango is a pretty simple dance, despite it's complicated history, it just simply requires doing walking in circles around a room, in a fancy fashion." he explained as he started the circle he was talking about, expecting me to follow.

"No, we're going counterclockwise." he commented, leading me to the right direction.

He then started a two step motion, which I quickly picked up on.

"There you go. Your learning quickly." he praised as I soon started following him at a normal pace.

"I have an awesome teacher to thank for that." I said, while looking up at him and wearing a proud smile. It then dawned on me that I was in a room with Kyoya. Alone. And he could possibly be a killer.

But then again he could also be innocent. It frustrated me, not knowing who was responsible for my father's death. It was because of this frustration that I stepped forward when I should have stepped back, stomping on his toe. He grunted in pain, but quickly regained his composure.

"I'm sorry. I got distracted." I explained.

"With what? Does it have anything to do with that note you ate the other day?" he asked in a slightly humorous tone.

If Kyoya was in fact the murderer, he was putting up a pretty good act. He seemed as if he knew absolutely nothing.

We started dancing again and I got lost in my thoughts. I remember what my mom's words were at my dad's funeral, "Sometimes, these things happen for a reason. There's a funny thing called destiny that has a habit of screwing us all over, then making up for it in the long run."

"Do you believe in destiny?" I found myself asking out loud, "I mean, do you believe that everything that happens is for a reason?"

Kyoya slightly lowered his glasses so that we were gazing eye to eye, "In a way. I do believe things happen because of our actions."

"No, not that. I mean everything being predetermined before we were even born. For example, maybe I was destined to go to this school." I explained.

We stopped talking while I was twirled and dipped, then when we were back to our regular two step dance he answered, "And what exactly would destiny have in mind for you here at Ouran?" he asked.

"Well, it could be for something as big as to use my education here to become a lawyer." I started, "Or it could be for something as simple as this moment. I could be here just so you could teach me the tango."

"Well, when you put it that way, yes, I do believe in destiny." he said, and then the music ended.

"We're in pretty good shape. Now that you know the basics of the tango I'll teach you my variations next practice." he said.

"Awesome. We are so winning this." I said. I waved good bye and headed out of the door to go home, feeling better than I had in ages. Although I'm pretty sure I would have felt sick to my stomach, if I knew what was to come.

**A/N**: If anyone's interested in hearing the song Connor was playing earlier, go to youtube and search "Bleach: Never Meant to belong violin". The guy who plays it, Ben Chan, is a musical genius :D


	4. The First Regret

Connor was in a better mood the next day. He kept saying "You won't believe what I got!" and "It's so cool!" The funniest thing about my brother was his boyish charm. He acted as if he was a cool and tough individual, yet little things excited him, and I would get a brief flash of the little boy he used to be.

When I finally found out what caused his excitement, I found myself feeling elated as well.

"You have a pet hermit crab? Awesome!" I exclaimed as I rushed over and stared at it through the glass tank. The little creature quickly ran away and hid in its shell.

"I named him Ronald." Connor said in his signature I'm-a-genius tone.

* * *

Knowing that my brother was finally okay allowed me more time to focus on my dancing. Kyoya and I met regularly now, and by the end of our first week, I was proudly able to claim that I mastered the tango.

The buzz of the dance competition quickly filled the whole school. You would think we were a school of the performing arts with the way the halls were filled with music and dancing. The orchestra and band were busy learning several new pieces, considering they would be creating the music for our dances. I was going to be busy all night. I was the only student who was competing and playing music.

I was walking to Physics class when all of a sudden Stephanie, I mean, Ms. Clark grabbed me by the wrist into her classroom.

"So, kid, give me the latest scoop. Can teachers compete in this dance competition?" she asked.

"Sure. It's a school event. But, Ms. Clark, who would be your partner?" I asked.

"Tamaki, of course." she said as if it was a big _duh,_ "Who else?"

I didn't want to tell her in fear of getting injured, but it just slipped, "But Tamaki wants to be partners with someone else!" I covered my mouth, realizing what I just caused.

"Really? Oh, does my little Tamaki have a crush? It's Haruhi, isn't it? That's adorable!" she exclaimed with a big smile on her face.

"I don't know if it would be called a crush. After all, Tamaki does call her 'daughter'." I informed her.

"Trust me. I know Tamaki. He has a crush." she said.

I never really thought of it that way before. Tamaki and Haruhi? I guess it was sort of obvious. How did I not see it before? Now it was going to be ten times harder to tell him...that Haruhi was planning on doing a ballet performance with Mori.

"On second thought, Tamaki might need a partner after all. You should ask him." I told Stephanie after thinking it through.

Shortly afterwards I left the room, in a hurry to get to class.

* * *

A couple of days later I discovered Tamaki was royally pissed at me, and I definitely knew why. He grabbed me for another meeting, this time in an empty classroom.

"What on Earth possessed you to tell Stephanie about me being partnerless? And even worse, she won't stop bugging me about Haruhi now! You good for nothing little..." he yelled, but then stopped.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm just so stressed lately. Remember when I told you the promise the agency made me?" he asked.

"Y-Yes." I asked, in a tone barely above a whisper. I was still shocked at how upset Tamaki had been a couple of seconds ago.

"Well, now they're saying it might take years of service before they can let me see my mom. _Years._" he gave me a pleading look, as if I could somehow change things. It was then for the first time that I noticed dark circles starting to develop under his eyes, "I don't have that kind of time."

"I don't think I can live like this anymore. All of this secrecy and all of these worthless promises don't mean a thing now."

I felt my heart skip a beat. I prayed under my breath that the conversation wasn't going to lead to the inevitable. It was then that he said after a tense moment of silence, "I think I'm going to quit."

"No! Tamaki, you can't! People at Ouran are in danger! I can't figure this out all by myself!" I found myself shaking him relentlessly, hoping to shake all of these premonitions out of him.

"I'm sorry." he whispered, pulling me into a hug, "You're better off without me. I'm an idiot anyway. But you're brilliant. I'm sure you can figure it out."

I watched him walk out of the classroom, and then I was left alone. Completely and utterly alone. The room suddenly became bigger, leaving me with a vast space of...nothing. That stupid idiot. Didn't he get that I needed him?

**Out of Maria's POV**

During Host club meetings, Tamaki and Maria mostly avoided each other. Tamaki was afraid that if he looked her in the eyes, her silent pleas would convince him to rejoin the agency. He felt selfish for making his decision, but he knew it had to be made. The agency was becoming too much of a strain on him. Of course, he didn't dear tell Stephanie his plans of quitting, for he didn't want to cause another natural disaster.

For once he had a chance to focus on being a normal student, if you considered being the president of a host club normal. For the dance competition, he would be doing a belly dancing routine with Stephanie. Of course, it wasn't his idea at all. He still remembered Stephanie's convincing voice.

"Come on! It'll be fun. Plus, what I wouldn't kill to see you in costume." she said with a smirk.

"Stephanie..." Tamaki whined, "The whole school already has suspicions of me being gay!"

"I thought that was only Connor." she said.

"Is he telling _everyone _about that?"

"Pretty much. Now let's go get fitted for our costumes!" said Stephanie excitedly, while grabbing his arms and dragging him to the nearest costume store. Stephanie was like the older sister he never had, although more annoying than most.

**Maria's POV**

I was heading to another practice session with Kyoya. This time we would be practicing with music and in costume. He convinced his dad to purchase me a blood red dress, and he himself wore a tux. For once, I felt like I belonged at Ouran High school. I had fancy clothes, a fancy dance partner, and I was dancing to fancy music. I should have felt happy. But everything was so wrong.

Kyoya motioned for the music to stop playing, and he stopped dancing. He looked down at me with concerned eyes and said, "What's wrong, Maria?" It was then that I noticed I was crying.

"Nothing. Nothing you can help with, anyway." I found myself saying heartlessly. Kyoya's face briefly showed pain, and then it was masked by his cool façade.

"Nothing I can help with, you say? You seem to forget who I am." he said with a genuine smile, something that was rare.

"I'm messing up our practice." I said apologetically.

"That's fine. If you're not feeling up to this, you can always go home and rest." he informed me. Now that he mentioned it, I was a little tired.

"Thanks. I really need a nap, dude. Catch you later?"

"Sure. You can 'catch me later'." he said in his usual proper tone, which made me laugh as I left.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Tamaki couldn't help but wonder what was happening with the case. Did Maria have any leads? It would pain him to know she was more successful without him, but her safety mattered more than anything. If anything were to happen to her, he would never forgive himself.

He wandered up and down the streets like a lost puppy, thinking that a walk like this would calm him. The stillness of the night air would make all the bad things go away.

**Maria's POV**

I didn't leave the school right away. I stopped by to watch Haruhi and Mori practice. They were actually really good, although both of them were in male clothing. I was pretty sure the girls who usually requested Haruhi at the host club would enjoy their act.

I stopped by to see what the twins were doing too. They were performing a sort of salsa dance. Both of them had ruffled shirts that were multi-colored. It was a v-neck and showed some of their bare skin. The girls back at the host club would squeal in pure bliss. I never really got what made them so worked up about the twins. And to complete the whole Latin theme, both of them grasped Maracas.

"Are you trying to start a rampage of hormone crazed girls?" I questioned jokingly.

"It's not our fault we're this good looking." said Hikaru.

"It's a blessing and a curse." sighed Kaoru.

After I left them I wanted to check out Stephanie and Tamaki's act, but I discovered they already left. I figured I'd follow their good example and leave too.

I was walking home a rather unusual way. I figured I would take a short cut on a side street, which was less busy and cut my journey in half. I got the vague feeling I was being followed, but that's the feeling I always got when walking down this road. I had walked it several times before, and without incident. It was probably just my paranoia at work again.

Well, at least that's what I thought before I felt two strange hands grab me into a choke hold from behind.

"Don't move. Understand?" said a male voice in a menacing way. Hmm. The killer was a dude.

I quickly elbowed him in the ribs, making him gasp and let go momentarily. That was all the time I needed to reverse the situation. I grabbed my attacker by the arm and twisted as hard as I could. I could faintly hear him cursing profusely between pained breaths.

"_You _don't move. Understand?" I said in a mocking, condescending tone. I examined my attacker. A thin man in a mask. It could have been any killer. How could I possibly know it was _the _killer?

All of a sudden, I heard a disturbing laugh disrupt from the killer. It was quiet at first, but then grew louder and more manic.

"Silly little girl." the voice taunted and all of a sudden yanked lose from my grasp, the sudden shift in weight sending me tumbling to the ground.

While I was in this vulnerable state, I heard the attacker shuffling around in their pockets. To my horror, I looked up to see gleaming metal reflecting the moonlight.

"This is unfair. I don't have a weapon. It's not a fair fight." I babbled on, hoping to lure the attacker into a hand only combat.

He leaned down and whispered menacingly, "Too bad I don't play fair."

He then picked the knife up and lunged straight for my heart. I moved away just in time, leaving me a short amount of time to catch my breath before another attack. Then another. And another. I kept rolling in the dirt, evading them all.

"It's a shame." he chuckled, "Your getting that pretty dress all dirty." he said with mock-disappointment.

I quickly dodged his knife again. I knew I couldn't keep this up for long. My time was running out. The killer went for another lunge of his knife and I stood still, submitting, waiting for my painful end when...

All of a sudden I heard a cry of fiery, and then a figure went flying through the air, kicking my attacker straight to the ground.

"Did you miss me?" my savior asked.

"Tamaki!" I called out.

"I missed you too!" he said, wearing his usual goofy grin.

"Tamaki!" I called out again.

"Okay. I get it. I'm Tamaki. You're Maria. Can we move on now?" he asked.

"Tamaki! Look out!" I called. It was then that the killer recovered from Tamaki's swiftly delivered kick and retaliated with a brutal punch to the stomach.

All of the breath left Tamaki's body at that moment. He fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. I charged at the killer with my full strength, hoping I would knock him to the ground. Instead, he just grabbed a hold of me and held the knife near my neck.

"It's a pity it had to end this way." he whispered, "You may have been my only worthy adversary."

What the attacker didn't predict was that Tamaki didn't dwell on things for long. He quickly recovered from the pain and jumped up suddenly, not leaving the attacker time to react when he punched him in the face, sending him to the ground, unconscious.

"So, I've been thinking about it." he said, out of breath, "And your right. You can't do this alone...you need me." he finished with a smile.

"Do you mean..." I started, not being able to mask my joy.

"Yes. I'm back on the case. And it appears we've found a killer." he said, gesturing to the ground.

"But the question is, would it be _the _killer?" I asked.

Tamaki all of a sudden took out a note, and handed it to her.

"I found this on your door." he said.

"You were at my house?"

"We'll talk about that later. The point is, it's a note from the killer. There's no way he would have found time to write that note, leave it on your door, then come back here, to attack you, arriving from the _opposite _direction from your house." he pointed out.

"How do we know he didn't just write it earlier?" I pointed out.

"Look at my hands. The ink is still wet." Tamaki said, showing her the smudges along his palm.

I bent down and read the note.

Note:

**Dear Maria,**

**It appears there is another attacker on the loose. Be careful. I wouldn't want someone to get the chance to spill your blood before I could. After all, a precious creature like you can only die once.**

**Love,**

**Anonymous**

I kept looking back and forth between Tamaki, the note, and the attacker on the ground.

"Then...who the hell is this guy?" I asked out loud.

* * *

**A/N**: Hope you enjoyed :D Next chapter is coming up soon


	5. The First Duet

"Oh my. This man is _very _heavy." said Tamaki, his face turning red with strain as he helped me drag the unconscious man to the police station.

"And remind me, why aren't we calling the police?" I asked.

"Because we're both jackasses who don't charge our phones before leaving the house." he reminded me.

"Oh. Okay."

When his weight became too much, we simply tossed him to the ground like worthless sack of potatoes. While Tamaki was catching his breath, I reached down to remove the killer's mask. Then all of a sudden, Tamaki's ninja hands were smacking mine away.

"No! We can't tamper with the evidence!" he told me.

"What evidence? We have the biggest piece of evidence right here." I said, gesturing to the unconscious mass.

"Well, maybe it wouldn't look good if our _unconscious _suspect was wearing a mask with _your _fingerprints all over it." he argued.

"My fingerprints are all over his body! In case you missed it, he tried to _kill _me!" I argued back.

Then I realized what was going on, and an all knowing smile spread across my face.

"You sneaky person, you! I know what this is about. You want to unmask him before I do!" I accused.

"No, of course not, why would you say such a..." he stopped to reach towards the mask before I could. I pushed him away and just when I revealed the lower half of his face, Tamaki wrestled me to the ground.

"I...knocked...him...unconscious. The duty...should be...mine!" he said between breaths as he tried to keep me from getting to the masked being before he did.

"He...tried to...kill me! It's my right!" I retorted. It was then that I pushed him so hard that his jacket ripped to reveal...

"A green sequenced belly shirt?" I asked questioningly, turning my head to the side to make sure I was seeing right. I was starting to agree with my brother about the whole "Tamaki is gay." conspiracy.

He started blushing fiercely, "Let's just...let the police unmask him at the station." he muttered while picking the man's feet up, as I picked up his upper body.

Some things were better left unexplained.

**Out of Maria's POV**

The attacker slowly began to regain consciousness, only to discover he was being carried. He almost felt like he was going to vomit at the thought of being touched by a "filthy commoner."

That was why he attacked her after all. Maria and that stupid Fujioka chick didn't belong at his school. What gave them the right to just waltz right in as if they fit in? It was people like her that were messing up Ouran's status as number one in the nation.

And Tamaki. The foolish boy was associated with all three commoners, including Connor. If he had been successful with Maria, that would have been his next target. Then he would have attempted to kill Haruhi. He had it all planned out.

_Then these wretched fools had to spoil the fun, _he thought disappointedly.

He was weak at first, but just as he was regaining his strength and getting ready to make his escape the babbling buffoons dropped him head first into the side walk. Easy to say, he quickly slipped back into unconsciousness.

**Maria's POV**

"Oh no! We killed him! He's dead!" yelled Tamaki, loud enough to make the old lady across the street peer out of her window.

"Shut up! People live on this street!" I whisper/yelled fiercely. We were one block away from the police station, and my muscles were killing me. "And you owe me a back massage." I added as an afterthought.

"Maria, I saved your life. You owe _me _a back massage." he argued.

"I didn't _ask _you to save my life." I argued back.

"Fine. Next time your life needs saving, I won't do anything until you _ask._" he said, rolling his eyes.

All of a sudden he as if he were going to drop the attacker again.

"Wow, what is your mother feeding you?" he said in absolute disdain.

* * *

After a lot of effort and arguing, we made it to the police station intact. Imagine the craziness that commenced after two teenaged people showed up in the middle of a police station, in the middle of the night, with an unconscious guy in a mask. Easy to say, we didn't have to wait to go straight to the chief.

We explained the whole situation to him. Well, not really the whole situation. To be specific, we basically left out all of the important details.

"So, you're telling me this guy tried to kill you," he said, pointing to me, "Then you came and knocked him unconscious." he said pointing to Tamaki, "Then you both carried him all the way here? You're aware that's six blocks, correct?"

"Oh trust me, we're aware." said Tamaki, painfully rubbing at his shoulders.

Like Tamaki and I agreed on earlier, the police unmasked the attacker. It turned out to be an expelled student from Ouran named Joshua Grant. He was expelled for being involved in a severe case of bullying where a student had to go to the hospital. According to his incoherent babbling he killed because, "If he couldn't go to Ouran, there was no way a mere commoner could." and how the thought of, "mere commoners plaguing the school made him nauseous."

It was a very complicated way of saying, "Hi, I'm Joshua Grant, and I'm a douche bag."

The chief told Tamaki and I to go home and to get a nice rest. Of course, that was going to be impossible. What happened that night was only a taste of the danger we would have to face in the future.

I couldn't concentrate in the school the next day. My mind was so weary from the night before, and I had so much to do for the competition tomorrow. I regrettable informed Kyoya that my dress was ruined, and he didn't even question why and just ordered a replacement. I can always count on Kyoya for that. He was a reliable fellow, and he did things with no questions asked.

When I showed up for orchestra practice that day, I discovered I wasn't the only student competing in the competition and playing music for it.

I saw Tamaki in the orchestra room, talking with our instructor and warming up his fingers on the keys.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I questioned.

"I was given the loveliest offer that I can't refuse!" he said.

"What would that be?"

The instructor, Mr. Mason, made his way over and started exclaiming in his usual booming voice.

"He shall be playing a duet with you in the competition of dancing!" he said in his heavy Italian accent.

"Really? You mean on my solo?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"It isn't a solo anymore!" Mr. Mason exclaimed, "Isn't that great?"

_No, _I found myself thinking, _it really isn't._

I was completely irritated. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to play with Tamaki, but I had been practicing my piece, Vitali Chaconne, forever. It was supposed to me my time to shine, plus, I now had to practice playing with a second instrument. That required team work. I was more of a solo player when it came to my music.

"Vitali Chaconne is a very _intimate _piece." He reminded us, "It's about the ups and downs of human emotions, the confusion that comes with love, and the coldness you feel through hate. Feel the _anger _in the piece. Feel the _regret and sadness._ But most importantly," he stopped to make Tamaki and I link hands, "Feel the _love._"

Tamaki and I burst out laughing. Not just regular laughter, but I'm talking side splitting cackling.

"Feel the _love._" Tamaki mocked while grabbing my arm, "I sure am feeling it, Mr. Mason, in the pit of my stomach."

"It feels like last night's chili!" I said, causing Tamaki to start laughing uncontrollably again.

The old man had no idea we were mocking him and just smiled, "Good. Now practice until your fingers fall off!" he said, before leaving the private band room all to us.

I noticed how Mr. Mason neglected to tell him we would be playing the piece during Haruhi's performance with Mori. Wise decision.

"Okay." I said, now getting serious, "Mr. Mason was right when he said this was a very intimate piece. We have to be completely in sync. Our minds have to become one while playing this peace. By the time we're done playing, this piece should sound like we're the same person."

"Then, I guess we don't have much to work on." he commented.

As much as it annoyed me, it was true. Ever since the case started I found myself adapting some of Tamaki's annoying traits. I now found myself becoming unnecessarily dramatic in certain situations, and I was even having mood swings like him. Also, he was adapting some of my traits as well. He now had the ability to think rationally before rushing into things, something I'm sure he didn't have before.

Long story short, this case was making Tamaki and I think alike, to the point where we almost _were _the same person.

That meant playing Vitali Chaconne together should be a piece of cake.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Tamaki discovered something quite disturbing, that he would have rather cared not to know. He realized he felt most alive when playing the piano. Most people said this as an exaggeration, but to him it was true.

When he played he felt a power surge through his whole body. It was this electricity that radiated throughout his very being, heightening his senses, making him notice things for the first time. It was this power to create that truly satisfied his soul. He did not feel at ease unless he was creating music, reproducing these beautiful sounds.

He wanted to share this power with the world, and he yearned to make everyone feel this way. As he started into the sorrowful tale that is "Vitali Chaconne" he realized that he could not share this feeling. It was impossible for anyone to feel the same way. Then all of a sudden, a note pierced through his steady music, ripping through it with a passion he could relate with. At that moment he wasn't alone. There was someone else who felt the same way he did.

Around and around their notes swirled together, playing a game of tag, one constantly trying to catch up to the other. When Maria played a beautiful violin note, it made Tamaki determined to play something more beautiful. Without even realizing it, they were telling a wordless, tragic tale. And on it went throughout the whole song, until it ended, and Tamaki was left feeling hopelessly empty again.

Maria, feeling absolutely breathless, just smiled. She hadn't played that well in a while. Maybe she did work better in teams after all. Feeling the same emptiness Tamaki was feeling, she looked at her watch then asked, "One more time?"

And it started again, this tragically thunderous game of cat and mouse. At the end no one was victorious. Neither of them was proven to be the better musician. And that made them determined to play again.

**Maria's POV**

Finally it was the next day, and everyone was geared up and ready for the competition. I got my hair done up fancy, and I was wearing the new dress Kyoya had shipped in to replace my old one. Not even some psycho killer could mess up the mood I was in. The event was introduced by Tamaki, then the festivities began. The crowd was unbelievably huge, since the whole school attended.

I played a few arrangements with the orchestra, but for the fourth act, Haruhi and Mori were performing. That was my cue to start gearing up for my performance, and Tamaki's cue to get by the piano set up cleverly in front of the stage.

We exchanged encouraging smiles before launching full on into the piece, playing even better than we did during practice. During practice, we played only to wow each other, but now we were working to amaze a whole crowd.

The way Haruhi and Mori moved gracefully across the stage added to the musical depth, each movement of theirs was fluent and natural. They did leaps I never thought possible and commenced with twirls that made me dizzy just watching. Mori was the strong, stable tree, and Haruhi was the delicate flower that danced around him. Thankfully, I don't even think Tamaki noticed who was performing. Either that or he just didn't care.

The piece was over, and the loud roar of the crowd was deafening. I can proudly say that some people started to cry tears of joy after the performance given by Haruhi and Mori as well as Tamaki and I.

Next were the twins. When they came out in their brightly colored shirts all of the females of the crowd went wild. The band launched into a playful, yet happy tune, and the twins effortlessly sashayed across the stage. I felt like I was at a fiesta and I found myself tapping my feet happily along to the beat. Even Kyoya, although he would never admit it, was getting his groove on.

The there were several more acts including a lot of break dancing as well as more classical themes. I noticed Tamaki left the crowd to go change then I discovered his act was next.

"Now, it's time for the amazing duo, the Belly Dancers!" yelled the announcer. That was when Tamaki came out in his familiar green outfit, Stephanie sporting a red one.

No words can describe what I saw that night. All I can say are two words: Epic Win.

Then all of a sudden it was my turn, and I was center on the dance, and those bright lights were shining in my eyes. And I nearly pissed my pants.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Everyone saw how visibly nervous Maria looked, so Haruhi started cheering her on, "Maria. Maria. Maria." she said.

Then the twins and Connor joined in, "Maria. Maria. Maria!"

Even Mori was chanting. Eventually the whole crowd started chanting her name.

"You see that?" Kyoya whispered, "They're all cheering for you."

She could see that and the power of the chant gave her a newfound confidence.

"Let's do this." she said.

"I'm ready when you are." replied Kyoya slyly.

Then the music started and they were dancing, just as they had many times before. Except this time it was different. Instead of it being in that silent room with nothing but the orchestra and the walls to keep them company, everyone was here now. And they were enjoying it.

When they finished and bowed, everyone went wild. They clapped and of course some of the girls threw roses at Kyoya.

Everyone would cast a vote, and the winner's of the competition would be announced the next day.

Amongst all the cheering and applause, Maria saw a sign that said in big, red letters," Death is near."

Maria quickly gazed around, wondering if anyone else saw it. But everyone was too focused on her and Kyoya, and by the time she looked up, the sign disappeared.

**A/N**: Wasn't my best chapter :/ This chapter was sort of a link between two chapters, so don't put too much thought into it (: On the upside, if you would like to hear one of the most beautiful performances of "Vitali Chaconne" Go on youtube and search "Vitali Chaconne -Sara Chang". She's amazing.


	6. The First Lie

Connor knitted a little pouch for his hermit crab, so he could carry him anywhere. Yes, knitted. There you go, another one of Connor's multiple hidden talents.

"I don't think that's healthy for Ronald." I said in my motherly tone.

"What are you, my mother?" he sneered.

"No, but Mommy's away on a business trip. And before she left she whispered in my ear, 'Make sure Connor doesn't hurt himself, or others. And don't leave him alone with fire.'." I babbled on and on and by the time I looked up he already got his hands on the matches.

"Connor, put that down. Remember what happened last time." I said warily.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt myself. I'm a big kid now." he said.

"What do you need those matches for anyway?" I asked.

"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm going to start a bon fire in Ronald's tank." he informed me.

I just sighed and left him to his work. It wouldn't be my fault if my older brother burned the house down. He's "a big kid now". I went to the kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee. I stared down into the scolding hot liquid, hoping that somehow the caffeine would clear my mind. I needed to figure out what happened the night before. Did I actually see that sign, or was I hallucinating?

**Out of Maria's POV**

Tamaki was tossing and turning in his bed, not being able to get up from his dream. He grasped his bed sheets tightly, to the point where his knuckles were turning a sickly white. His face showed the endeavor he was going through in his mind, his nose was scrunched up and his forehead held several worry lines. His breathing was irregular and he bit his lip so hard it bled. Why couldn't he flee from this sick nightmare?

In Tamaki's mind, he was in France, staring at a very familiar village house, popularly referred to as the Maison de maître among the locals. Out of the third floor window, he could see his beautiful mother, setting up flowers to go just outside of the window. He saw the face of a paradise forever lost to him.

"Maman!" he called to his mother in French, "Maman, être prudent!" he was calling to her to be careful.

She leaned forward through the window, and once she saw his face she smiled.

"Revenir dans la maison! Vous ne sont pas en bonne santé!" he yelled the French translation of: _Back in the house! You are not in good health!_

"Mon fils douce. Pourquoi ne vous inquiétez pas à ce point?" she mused, smiling even more. She said, _My sweet son. Why do you worry so much?_

All of a sudden her weight was no longer supported, and the beam she was leaning against gave way to nothing. His heart skipped a beat as he watched her tumble.

To Tamaki's horror she fell and she fell. He was close enough to save her so he ran and ran.

Just when he was about to catch her, he found himself back in his room in Japan, too far away to be able to do anything but watch and wallow in self-pity.

"Maman." he whispered 'mommy' to himself, the word a poison to his tongue. He could not say it without feeling pain. Nothing but harsh, cruel pain that took over his very being. He will never see his Maman again, despite all of the things everyone says.

For all he knew, she could be dead. Of course, they would never tell him that, and they would just continue to fool him so they could use him for their own selfish needs. They would continue to torture the little boy inside of him, always dangling the promise of his dear mother just out of his reach. His Grandmother used him to be the heir of the Suoh fortune. The agency used him to do their dirty work. It was all a vicious cycle of using and using, until he wouldn't be needed anymore.

_When I'm not of use anymore, _he thought bitterly, _they'll decide to throw me away._

**Maria's POV**

To my surprise, the twins actually handed in the biography of me to Mr. Yagami. I did a biography on John Hancock and Haruhi did one on Albert Einstein.

So imagine how pissed Haruhi and I were when we both got seventies and the twins got one freaking hundred.

"How do you two do it? I think Mr. Yagami has a crush on you guys." Haruhi mumbled.

"Yeah. Yagami spelt backwards is 'I'm a gay'." I informed the group.

"You win some and you lose some, ladies." said Kaoru mockingly.

"Yeah, don't be sore losers." said Hikaru.

"I hope you guys aren't sore losers today when it's announced that Mori and I take the prize." said Haruhi.

"No way! We were the sexiest act!" said the Hitachiins.

"Look, you guys can keep on arguing, but we all know Kyoya and I were the best." I interjected.

"Says the girl who almost passed out." retorted Hikaru.

"Bitch?" I said, addressing Hikaru.

"Skank?" he responded.

"Slut." I said.

"Whore."

"Prostitute."

"At least I get paid for what I do." Hikaru said slyly.

Honestly, if I didn't love him I would hate him. It was just then that the intercom sounded off.

"Hello to all of Ouran High school students and faculty. I have here the results of the dance competiton!" said our student council president. Everyone cheered except Hikaru and I. We were waiting to prove each other wrong.

Everyone then got silent.

"And the winner is..."

**Out of Maria's POV**

The killer was indeed responsible for the sign Maria saw that night, but he wasn't the one holding up the sign. He spotted a group of first years making signs for the competition, and he stealthily slipped in his own creation into their pile. The poor fools didn't even notice as they held it up.

So, the killer didn't necessarily have to be in the crowd. The killer could have been anywhere in the world at that moment. It just so happens, on a simple whim, that he decided to show up for the competition after all. And boy, was it worth it, to see Maria's face freeze in a shocked expression.

* * *

"Je vais bien." Tamaki said to assure the maid he was fine. He then remembered she couldn't speak French, "I'm fine. Really."

"But, Master Suoh is late for school. The day is already half way over. Oh, and you better not let your Grandma hear you speaking French in the house." she informed him.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. And I think I'll stay home today. There's no point in going to school this late." he said.

"Madam Suoh won't like this one bit." she reminded him. This was a new side of Tamaki that she had not yet seen. What happened to the polite by who carried out every command?

"Grandmother doesn't like _anything _I do." he said with a smirk. He's finally snapped. Before he lived to please his Grandmother. He tried his best in everything he did, hoping to earn her love. He was smart student and he was second in his class. He was a model citizen and showed up at every charity event he could. He even took the time to learn his Grandma's native tongue, and complied when he was forbidden to speak his own.

"But she'll be very upset if she finds out your skipping school." she said.

"So? It's her problem. Let her be upset." he said in anger

"She'll be very angry with you." the maid warned.

"And then what will she do? Send me back to France?" he asked, a sinister tone creeping up in his voice. He knew his dear Grandmother would never do such a thing, because then she would lose all of the leverage she had against him. No, she would keep him here; make him suffer.

"Master Suoh! I'll have Madam Suoh sent up here this instant!" she threatened.

"Good luck with that!" he called out in a sing song voice as the maid left the room. Then he started giggling maniacally. He felt satisfied with himself...for a little while. Then he came to the realization that his dear Grandmother was capable of making his life a living hell.

"I'm a fool." he said to himself, "A complete fool."

**Maria's POV**

"Honey Haninozuka!"

Cheers erupted from all of the girls around us. Some of them were crying with joy and others were simply filled with glee. Although Hikaru, Kaoru, Haruhi, and I felt the exact opposite.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure Honey didn't even compete." said Kaoru.

"Oh well. At least we all had fun competing!" said Haruhi with a grin.

"What are you, an idiot? It was never about having _fun. _It was about winning!" yelled Hikaru.

"Sorry, Haruhi, but I'm on his side with this one." I said, putting my hands up defensively.

* * *

At the host club I noticed Tamaki's absence. It was then that I realized before that day he had a perfect attendance rate at school. I was playing a sweet serenade on the violin for one of my customers when I was interrupted by Kyoya.

"Mark, can you do me a favor? I'm kind of busy here." he said.

"Sure. Wait here please, ladies." I said, before meeting Kyoya out in the hall.

"I need you to check on Tamaki. I'm really worried." he said, showing genuine concern for a second then clearing is throat and added "I mean, I'm concerned for our money. He's booked many customers today."

"Of course." I said. He gave me the adress, and before I left he gave me one warning.

"A maid will answer the door. She'll try to tell you that Tamaki is sick, or that he doesn't want visitors. But be persistent. Demand to see him." he said. It seemed as if Kyoya had a lot of experience dealing with the Suoh family.

This seemed like some sort of huge mission. I felt as if I was trying to break a prince out of his castle. I silently chuckled to myself. I was sure going to have fun with this.

* * *

Did I say I was going to have fun? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

First of all, it took a good half hour of my life to convince the stupid maid I needed to see Tamaki. Then I had to get disinfected before I was sent up to his room.

When I got up to his room I heard him playing his piano, and I was almost reluctant to interrupt. I sat there and listened to the piece that I recognized as "If I Could See You Again" by Yiruma. The melancholic undertones of the song were easily distinguished amongst the happy tune. It was a sad story of loss that was well disguised by a playful tune. The only way to truly know what the song was about was to feel the way the composer did while writing it, and know how the musician felt while playing it.

So you can understand why I stood there for a while, waiting for the song to end. I wouldn't want to interrupt something so heartfelt and thoughtful. While listening I found myself constantly teetering on the edge of emotion, not knowing whether to feel joy or sadness; not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

I knocked twice and heard a familiar voice say, "Come in."

"You have the loveliest family." I said jokingly.

"Maria? What are you doing here?" he said, sounding more shocked then happy to see me.

"Blame Kyoya. He worries about you, although he'll never admit it." I told him.

"Do me a favor and don't tell anyone else my address." he said.

"Why?"

"Do you _want _me to get raped?" he asked jokingly.

"Hmmm. I don't know. I'll get back to you on that." I said, acting as if I was pondering it.

"It worries me that you have to think about it." he muttered.

"As I said before, I'll get back to you. So, why weren't you at school?" I asked.

"I just overslept. Then I figured I might as well stay home." He explained. But I wasn't buying it.

"You expect me to believe you just decided to stay home? Dude, you have a _perfect attendance._ Something's up, and you better spill." I accused, pointing a finger at his chest.

"Don't you point your finger at me!" he said, while swatting my finger away.

"Why, does it annoy you?" I asked while continuing to point and poke him.

"Stop that. Stop that! Fine, okay, I had a bad dream, alright! I saw her and...and... elle tombait! Je ne pouvais la sauver! Elle avait besoin de moi et je ne pouvais la sauver!" he got so upset that he started yelling in French. Since I learned bits of the language a while ago I believed he said, _she was falling! I couldn't save her! She needed me and I couldn't save her!_

**Out of Maria's POV**

Tamaki started to break down. He couldn't take it anymore. All of a sudden he was crying. He was completely vulnerable in front of this girl, and at this point he didn't care. His mother would have wanted him to be happy, but he couldn't smile. The sweet memories of his mother were clouded by misery and deceit. And so he cried, hoping maybe his tears would cleanse the evil he felt all around him.

And all of a sudden this strange girl was putting comforting arms him. Maria, wasn't it? He wasn't quite sure. Reality and common sense seemed to be lost to him as he relived his greatest nightmare over and over. All geniuses went mad eventually.

"I told her to be careful." he whispered, "So it's really not my fault. Right?" he looked up at this girl for an answer.

Maria had no idea that Tamaki felt this kind of pain. She had no idea that he was battling emotions like this all by himself. Sure, he tried to tell her several times, but her needs always came before his. Everyone's needs always came before his. They had all been so selfish.

"No. It's not your fault, Tamaki. It never was." she said encouragingly.

Tamaki looked up and it all came back to him. He was in his room. The person in front of him was Maria Standford. And he had told her so many lies.

"You know, you don't have to tolerate my behavior. I'm acting like a complete idiot. And I've kept the truth hidden from you for so long." he confessed.

"Tamaki, you're talking nonsense. You've done nothing but help me." she assured him.

"No. I kept something from you. Something you need to know." he insisted.

Today. Starting today he would right all of his wrongs. Starting now.

"About what?" asked Maria.

"I know something about your father." Tamaki said, pure misery leaking through his words.

* * *

**A/N**: I command you to go on youtube and search "If I Could See You Again." by Yiruma. All of Yiruma's work is amazing, and expect to see a lot of it featured in the future (:

Chapter is dedicated to **LunaBlacklovespie**. She better be jumping up and down with glee right now .


	7. The First Clue

My breath caught in my throat. My father was a topic we seemed to avoid. We were always so focused on the now, always wanting to "catch the killer" that I never really found time to grieve over my father. I never talked about him, and nowadays I rarely ever thought about him. But now all of those old wounds had been reopened, and they were bleeding profusely.

Oh, how I missed him. He was such a good example for Connor and me growing up. How could I describe him? It's hard to put into words.

Well, he was as smart as Kyoya, often top of his class when he was a teen. He was as mischievous as the twins, always wreaking havoc in small yet amusing ways. He was as reliable as Mori, always a strong shoulder a person can lean on. He adored cute things, the same as Honey did. He was practical, like Haruhi, always using logic in times of trouble.

Yet most of all, he was kind and sincere, like Tamaki. But now he was gone. And losing any of these people would be like losing him all over again.

"What is it, Tamaki? I'm not angry with you. I'm sure you had your reasons from withholding the information you did." I said in a monotone voice, afraid that if I spoke with any emotion at all, I would start crying.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Tamaki wasn't sure how she would take the information he was about to give her. He knew he was shocked when he found out, before he was even given this mission. But she had a right to know, no matter how much pain it might cause. Could he forgive himself after seeing her shock stricken face? Probably not. But that didn't matter much. What mattered now was the truth.

"Well...your father has been lying to you his whole life." he started.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He...was an agent, like me. And he...oh, Maria, I can't tell you if you look at me like that." complained Tamaki, staring at her mouth hung open.

She closed her mouth immediately and gave an encouraging head nod for him to continue.

"He was given an assignment...to...to..." he couldn't bring himself to finish.

It was then that he felt an incredible blow delivered to his left cheek, sending him reeling. Maria had slapped him. Hard.

"Finish. The. Damn. Sentence." she practically growled.

He wasn't angry at her at all. He could see she was acting out of confusion and fear, and that later on she would apologize. This anger she showed was her way of trying not to cry.

He took a deep breath and with one last sympathetic look he finished his sentence.

"Your father was an agent," he started again, "And he was given an assignment to kill you."

**Maria's POV**

"Liar!" I shrieked, backing away from Tamaki at once.

Why does this boy tell such cruel lies?

"Please, Maria!" he begged, trying to take grasp of my hand.

"No! Get away from me! Your saying such hurtful things. Does this make you happy? Do you enjoy playing mind games with me?" I questioned, going from yelling, and ending in a tone barely above of whisper. My whole body was shaking.

He grabbed both of my wrists to steady me then he started speaking in a soothing voice.

"I would never do that to you. I would never _want _to make you feel this way. It's the truth." he looked up at me with pleading eyes, and for a second I caught a glimpse of the same old goofy Tamaki I met on my first day of school, "You have to trust me."

Our eyes met and we stared at each other for an intense minute. My gaze was challenging him, still deciding whether to believe it or not. His gaze was steady and convincing.

"I-I do trust you, with my life. It's just that...I'm so sorry!" I said, my voice hinting that I had started to cry. I then ran out of his room, passed all of the confused maids, ran out onto the streets. I didn't really have a true destination. I just wandered helplessly, trying to get a grip on my forever fleeting reality.

**Out of Maria's POV**

When Maria ran out of his house, he felt a sudden instinct to follow her. No one that upset should be wandering the streets alone. He knew that whenever he got that upset his thought process would become foggy.

As soon as he walked out of the house, he saw an upset Maria standing at the crosswalk, looking like a deflated balloon, as if all the life was sucked out of her. As she stepped into the street the light was still on green, and several cars zoomed around her.

"Watch out!" he yelled, and ran out in the street as well.

_Maybe I'm unable to save Maman, _he thought, _but I can save this girl, right in front of me._

He came just in time, and pushed her to safety on the sidewalk before any cars could harm her.

"Are you stupid?" Tamaki yelled after he caught his breath.

"Are you an idiot?" she yelled back.

"Well at least I don't stand in the middle of oncoming traffic!" he retorted.

"Well at least I don't go around saving people's lives!" she spat.

"Oh, so now I'm the bad guy!" he complained.

She all of a sudden got an image of Tamaki trying to rob a bank and she started to smile. There was no way she could stay mad at him.

"Not really! I think we both know you can't pull off the bad guy image!"

"I'm sorry!" he said, raising his voice over the roar of the traffic.

"Me too!" she answered.

"Friends?" he asked.

"Always." she responded with a smile.

It was then that the two realized what a show they had been putting on when everyone around them stopped what they were doing to clap and cheer. They were completely embarrassed, and they both headed home in opposite directions.

**Maria's POV**

So, my father was supposed to kill me. Why? I don't know. I'm not even sure I want to find out. All I know is that I'm growing to like this agency less and less. They wanted me dead a couple of years ago, and now they're sending their agents to protect me. Talk about a change of priorities.

What if they decided to change their mind again? I'd be dead in an instant. No doubt about it. I was just starting to get the gist of the situation. The agency is everywhere. The agency is everything. The agency _knew _everything. Did they know I used to have a pet bird named Moose? Probably. Did they know I didn't learn to ride my bike until I was ten? Most likely.

It was a creepy concept, knowing I was always under surveillance. These people were playing God, when it wasn't their place to do so. And there wasn't a damn thing anyone, even Tamaki and I, could do about it.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Hikaru just heard the most recent piece of gossip, and he was quick to tell everyone at lunch. As he arrived at the table where his friends sat, he slammed down his books and said three words.

"Sex Ed. classes."

"What?" asked Haruhi.

"They're putting Sex Ed. classes back in the curriculum." he said with a devious smirk.

"No way! But didn't they fire the old sex ed. teacher last year for showing the students porn?" asked Kaoru.

"That's not why he got fired. Everyone knows that's a rumor." protested Haruhi.

"I beg to differ. Just ask Tamaki. He was a first year when sex ed. was still a class." said Kaoru.

"And now rumors are flying around saying there's a new teacher. And she's a girl." said Hikaru.

"Well, as long as I don't have to take the class with you two, I'm okay with that." said Maria while Haruhi nodded her head in agreement.

"Sorry to crush your dreams, Maria, but Class A happens to be scheduled to go at the end of the day." Hikaru informed them.

**Maria's POV**

Haruhi looked like she was about to have a stroke. I didn't blame her. Chances are that sex ed. with the twins would _not _be fun. Why couldn't I take the class with someone more mature, like maybe Mori or Kyoya. Oh, that's right. They're not in our grade. I think I should have skipped a grade a long time ago.

* * *

The day went on normally, and right after orchestra I planned on skipping sex ed., but it was then that I found myself being picked up by my arms, and I knew who had arrived.

"Tisk, tisk. Trying to skip class?" said the twins simaeltaneously.

"No, not at all. I was just, um...okay, you caught me." I admitted, hanging my head in defeat.

When we got to the class we discovered a room full of buzzing students, who actually seemed to be excited for once. Haruhi sat in a corner, looking completely depressed.

"They got you too, huh?" she said as I was dragged through the door.

"I can't believe you guys would try to skip class." said Hikaru in a reprimanding voice.

"I thought we taught you better than that." said Kaoru, shaking his head in mock-disappointment.

I gazed to the front of the classroom to see the back of the teacher's head as she wrote something on the board.

_She looks so familiar, _I thought.

It was then that when she turned around it hit me. My eyes turned to the size of watermelons as she introduced herself.

"Hello, class, and welcome to sex education." she said, "I'm your new teacher, Ms. Stephanie Clark."

This was going to be the longest forty five minutes of my life.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Tamaki and Kyoya were currently in their Creative writing class. The teacher often said to be a creative writer, you had to understand creative writing. So everyone in the class was given the assignment to find a poem that expressed them the most. At first, Tamaki thought he had the perfect poem. It was happy and energetic and seemed to put a smile on his face everytime he read it. But given recent events, he decided to change at the last minute.

Kyoya went first, and he would be reading: _The Truest Knowledge by Oscar Wilde. _When in front of the room he had a commanding presence. He demanded attention and his solemn silence alone seemed to silent the rest of the class. Then he read with fervor:

**Thou knowest all; I seek in vain  
What lands to till or sow with seed -  
The land is black with briar and weed,  
Nor cares for falling tears or rain. **

Thou knowest all; I sit and wait  
With blinded eyes and hands that fail,  
Till the last lifting of the veil  
And the first opening of the gate.

Thou knowest all; I cannot see.  
I trust I shall not live in vain,  
I know that we shall meet again  
In some divine eternity.

The class erupted into applause, just like Kyoya guessed they would. As he sat down to his seat he gave Tamaki a look that said, "I dare you to do better than that."

Tamaki raised his hand in the air and waved in frantically until his teacher called on him. He was really proud of the poem he managed to find, and he thought it expressed his deeper self. He was going to recite _The Land of Dreams by William Blake._ He got up to the front of the classroom, and then started reading in a pleasant yet hazy voice, as if his very existence was a dream.

**Awake, awake my little Boy!  
Thou wast thy Mother's only joy:  
Why dost thou weep in thy gentle sleep?  
Awake! thy Father does thee keep. **

"O, what land is the Land of Dreams?  
What are its mountains, and what are its streams?  
O Father, I saw my Mother there,  
Among the lilies by waters fair.

Among the lambs clothed in white  
She walked with her Thomas in sweet delight.  
I wept for joy, like a dove I mourn -  
O when shall I return again?"

Dear child, I also by pleasant streams  
Have wandered all night in the Land of Dreams;  
But though calm and warm the waters wide,  
I could not get to the other side.

"Father, O Father, what do we here,  
In this land of unbelief and fear?  
The Land of Dreams is better far  
Above the light of the Morning Star."

When he finished the classroom erupted in deafening applause. The teacher was near to tears. Tamaki winked at Kyoya as he sat down as if to say, "You were pwned."

Just when another student was about to go, the class was interrupted by yelling from the sex ed class next door.

**Maria's POV**

The whole class watched while Ms. Clark tried to get a condom on a banana and couldn't do it. She started yelling at the banana and getting violent.

"Maybe you have the wrong condom size." suggested Kaoru.

"They sell king-sized, you know." added Hikaru.

By then the whole class was in hysterics. When she finally succeeded at getting the condom on the banana, she held it up to show the whole class.

"And _that _is how to correctly put on a condom...I think." she declared with a proud smile.

* * *

By the end of class we were told that we were going to watch an instructional video the next day. We were then handed free condoms, and we headed out the door.

Haruhi, the twins, and I were already at the water fountain, filling our free samples with water and tying them in knots.

All of the students in class A were following our bad example and before you know it there was a water fight going on in the hallway. The floors quickly became slippery and we all watched as the students from the literature class next door walked into the hallway and slipped on the floor.

Kaoru took aim and made sure to hit Kyoya directly in the face. Two doors down Honey, Mori, and Connor were also leaving class. I aimed and hit Connor, making him soaking wet. Another two "water-balloons" flew through the air at that moment, and just when it was about to hit Honey, Mori blocked the way and got hit instead.

"Mori!" Honey shrieked, as if his friend just got shot. He wore a grim expression as he said darkly, "This means war."

He grabbed as many "water balloons" as he could and mercilessly started chucking them at the offenders.

To my surprise, I actually witnessed Kyoya chuckling for the first time as he also joined in on the fight. Tamaki was in the corner, hiding in fear of getting his dry-cleaned uniform soaked.

About twenty minutes later and all of us were sitting in the cafeteria for after school detention. Except Tamaki. He was traumatized by the whole experience and therefore in the guidance counselors office. After a big lecture from the principal we were all released. All of us had big ass grins on our face as we left the school, still soaked with water.

It was decided. Sex Ed. was my new favorite class.

The next day while in the locker rooms, I discovered another letter in my gym locker. Yet this one was different from all the others.

Note:

**Dear Maria,**

**I'm growing bored of our little game. So, I've decided to cut your time short. You have one more week to figure out who I am, or else I'll kill someone in the host club. I feel generous, so I'll give you seven clues.**

**First clue:**

**I am a box that holds keys without locks, yet they can unlock your soul. What am I?**

Seven days. Seven clues. That's all I had to figure out this mystery. Oh, and I had Tamaki.

We're screwed.

**A/N**: Yay! 7th chapter! seven is a lucky number (:


	8. The First Revelation

"Hey, Maria, did I ever tell you you're the nicest person I know?" asked Connor with a charming smile.

"What do you want?" I said, knowing he was only this nice when he wanted to borrow something.

"I just need a couple bucks. I'll pay you back, I swear." he pleaded.

I sighed. My big bro had this terrible habit of always borrowing money from me. He always ended up spending his allowance on stupid things, thus making him broke most of the time. And that's where I came in.

"What's it for?" I asked.

"Well...I need to buy a new tank for Ronald." he confessed. Oh, yeah. I just remembered. Mr. Genius actually went through with that "bon-fire" after all. Easy to say, the old tank was no longer useful.

"Fine. But I want every single penny back. And buy the cheapest one you can find. My wallet is on my dresser." I finally caved.

He thanked me and headed to my room. Then I returned my attention back to what was in front of me.

The clue:

**I am a box that holds keys without locks, yet they can unlock your soul. What am I?**

It sounded familiar, like a riddle I've heard of before. A box. By that I guess they meant a hollow shape. Keys...unlocking your soul...it was so obvious!

"Piano!" I yelled out loud, jumping with glee. Then I was suddenly filled with a deep sense of dread. Piano=Tamaki. It always had, and it always would. But that was too simple. The killer wouldn't go and reveal themselves in one simple clue. There were six more coming my way. But I couldn't ignore the obvious. Tamaki played the piano. He was the only person in the host club who did.

As of now...he was a suspect.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Maria had always been so blind when it came to the concerns of Connor. She actually thought he was happy. She didn't even seem to notice he didn't play his violin anymore. She was always so caught up in her own agendas that she never found time for him anymore.

And it got lonely. Sure, Connor was popular back at the school, but none of those kids really _knew _him. Not the way Maria did. Scratch that. The way Maria _had. _She no longer knew him, because she was always so busy with other things. She made new friends.

So Connor was back to square one. It was the way it had been years ago. Back when he was a misunderstood, troubled kid. Sometimes, things changed for the worse.

**Maria's POV**

So, I went to school determined to find Tamaki. I didn't believe he did anything wrong, but it was too suspicious to ignore.

Come to think of it...he could have been a suspect all this time. It was a common case of be-the-killer-and-attempt-to-help-catch-yourself.

Like that one time, when he saved me from that attacker. He had also brought the note which he "conveniently" found on my front door. His hand had ink smudges because "it was still wet". Is it possible he wrote it?

No! I can't start doubting him now, not when we have such little time left. That's what the killer wants. He wants to pry open our insecurities, and make us start fighting. When people on the same team doubted each other, it was kind of hard to do anything right.

_I'm tired of these mind games,_ I thought, _Is anyone truthful?_

_"You have to trust me." _I remembered Tamaki's sincere voice. He was truthful. He was the only truth in all the lies.

And I did trust him. But I trusted my instincts more.

And my instincts were screaming at me three words: Tamaki is guilty.

_But you told him you trusted him with your life,_ I thought to myself, _Well, I guess that makes you the biggest liar of all of them._

**Out of Maria's POV**

Kyoya noticed a change within Tamaki. He was less ambitious, and quieter. Kyoya had caught him more than once completely ignoring his guests, and staring off into the distance. Even he can confess to taking a liking to Tamaki. The two had become best friends so quickly, and he barely had a say in the matter, but still. When his friend was in pain, Kyoya felt pain too.

_It's sort of scaring me,_ Kyoya thought, _Tamaki is starting to remind me of...me._

**Maria's POV**

It was time for another Sex Ed. class with class A. Oh, this ought to me good. Hikaru and Kaoru were excited as ever.

"We're going to be trained in the art of seduction!" said Hikaru with excitement.

"I don't think the point of these classes is to teach us how to seduce people." said Haruhi in her usual matter-of-fact tone.

"I think the point is for us _not _to have sex." I chimed in.

"Yeah, and plus, I think we're all experts at seducing people." said Kaoru. That made us all laugh. We were the host club, after all.

"Well, what is the point of this class? I don't think there would be a lot to know about sex." said Hikaru right when the teacher walked in. Big. Mistake.

"Sooo, you think you know everything there is to know, do you, big shot?" asked Stephanie, giving him a mean look.

"It doesn't seem like a complicated concept." responded Hikaru coolly, yawning, as if he was already bored with the conversation.

Stephanie just smiled her devil smile and started a movie.

"Class, we're going to watch an educational video." she announced.

Then, big white words came on the screen that said: The Miracle of Childbirth.

...

My youth has been taken from me. My very soul has been ripped out of me. I think I just died and came back to life several times over. As I walked out of that room, I was a different person.

Hikaru's eyes were comically wide and Haruhi had already barfed twice. Kaoru was in tears.

"You guys," Kaoru said after a long moment, "Remind me to never get pregnant. Ever."

We all nodded our heads slowly, still dazed at what we just witnessed. Stephanie was right. Hikaru didn't know everything there was to know about sex.

After another pause Hikaru also spoke.

"That was not a 'miracle.' That was sick." he said.

Once again, all of us nodded in shock.

We all headed down to the Host Club, considering Sex Ed. was the last class of our day. We were still pretty dazed and I made the usual detour to my locker to pick up my outfit.

It was then that I found Tamaki leaning against it, sporting a melancholic look on his face, and staring at me.

"You mind talking to me for a minute?" he asked, then he caught sight of Haruhi out of the corner of his eyes, and his face lit up.

"Run along now, young one. Daddy's just having grown up talk. Oh, and didn't I tell you to stop hanging out with those boys?" he glared at Hikaru and Kaoru.

"We're sorry boss, we forgot you were infatuated with Haruhi." they said in unison.

Tamaki's face became angry, in his usual dramatic and goofy manner, "Why, I am no such thing! It's a father's job to care for her daughter and..." he went on.

I started slowly moving him while he was too busy talking, and motioned at the twins to leave. By the time he was done babbling, the twins were gone and we were far away from my locker.

"Wha...how...never mind that. When were you going to tell me about this?" he said, holding up the note that I so _cleverly _hid from him.

I was at loss for words. It was clear he was upset I would keep it from him, and I guess he knew I considered him a suspect. But, could you blame me? It was so...easy to blame him. I just wanted to blame someone, cart them off to jail, and forget about this whole mess.

"I...it's just that...Tamaki, don't give me that look." I groaned as I stared at his comically large eyes that glistened with tears, and his classic pout. It would have been funny if I didn't know he was serious.

"So, you think I'm a suspect. Not to say that I blame you..." he started then looked directly at me, his gaze crisp and focused now, "Whatever happened to trusting each other?"

"How'd you get that note?" I asked suddenly.

"I broke into your locker." he said absent-mindedly.

I stared at him. He was unbelievable!

"Things aren't looking good for you, sport." I commented, averting my eyes from that sad face.

He sighed. That's when I knew he understood. If he was in my situation, he would have suspected himself too. After a while, people tended to look for the quickest answer. Mine was Tamaki. But I just...couldn't manage to pin the identity "killer" to his face. I finally looked up, scanning his features now, when to my surprise I saw a smirk.

"Well, I guess I was wrong." he said, chuckling darkly to himself, "I started to believe...we were friends. How...foolish of me."

Now, this mocking smirk _did _fit the profile of a killer, and it was then that I remembered Tamaki had many alter-egos. There's probably several more, just waiting to be unleashed; just waiting for the trigger word that sets him off...

"Yes...how foolish." I echoed.

I flashed back to the scene that had transpired recently. Tamaki and I, yelling like maniacs in public, and then becoming friends. Would a repeat of that incident do the trick? Somehow, I thought thinks were more complicated than that.

"Well, we still have to work together, unfortunately." he said bitterly, as if he was talking down to me.

"Yes, unfortunately." I mimicked again, still in shock at the whole situation.

And now, the killer managed to screw up another thing for me. It took away Tamaki...or, Tamaki took away himself...or...This was all so confusing! Couldn't someone just confess already?

* * *

We walked to the host club in silence, Tamaki always being a few feet ahead of me.

"Tamaki, I..." I would start to say.

"No, I understand Maria. I'm not upset." he would cut me off.

That's when he was the worse. When he would pretend he wasn't upset. It made him that much more unbearable.

We got to the Host Club, but easy to say, my mind wasn't really on my guests in front of me, but my fellow blonde-haired host, who was a mere yard away.

"Oh, your beauty is as radiant as...as radiant as..." he was trying to compliment a costumer, but he was obviously distracted.

"The sun." I whispered and he scowled at me. Somehow, that scowl gave me comfort. At least he wasn't in that pretend-I'm-not-pissed stage anymore.

Kyoya witnessed the exchange and gave an all knowing smirk.

"Tamaki can be a bit stubborn when it comes to his own feelings." he whispered to me, "Just give him some time."

"I'm going to have to give him a century; he has a right to be upset." I confided in Kyoya, of course I didn't outright tell him I accused Tamaki of being a killer, but I sort of explained it as a "trust issue" situation.

"Ahh, trust. The subject that gets everybody's panties in a bunch. Well, I can't help you there," he said, adopting a somewhat uninterested tone, "For I trust no one, and nothing.

I should have seen that one coming.

* * *

Later on that day I headed to my locker to get my female attire. It was then that I discovered a note. Oh, great, a second clue. The first one had turned out soooo dandy.

Note:

**Dear Maria,**

**Who am I? Sometimes, I'm not even sure. Hahahaha!**

**Second clue:**

**It cannot be seen, it cannot be felt,**

**Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,**

**Lies behind stars and under hills,**

**And empty holes it fills.**

**Comes first follows after,**

**Ends life kills laughter.**

It appears the killer was onto something. He did kill laughter. I didn't even bother to figure it out today. I just stuffed it in my bookbag, sighed, and went home.

* * *

When I walked through the door I just dropped all of my stuff in front of it, and plopped into the couch which was only a few feet away.

"Today was exhausting!" I called out to Connor, who was usually in the living room when I got home. I gazed around, when he wasn't there, I simply sighed. He was probably off at gardening club, digging up dirt because "chicks love a man with a green thumb".

"Talking to yourself again, aren't we Maria? Well, while you're at it, why don't you tell yourself how ridiculous and untrustworthy your being? Yeah, and while you're still on a roll, don't forget to mention that you need to start exercising. Arm flab would _not _be a good look on you." I muttered to myself.

The host club, the mystery, and Ouran Academy were driving me insane. I never used to talk to myself, much less address myself in a third person.

I couple of hours later I saw Connor waltz in with a big wad of cash.

"What the fuck? While digging in the dirt did you strike oil?" I chided, amazed.

"And here's all the money I owe you. And an extra five bucks. Go buy yourself something pretty." he said, patting my head, and then heading upstairs.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Connor made his way up to his room, a vague feeling of nausea creeping up on him. He had done something that didn't think he should have, and it made him feel uneasy.

_There's no crime in what I did. I'm my own person, not Maria. I have my own interests, _he thought. What had him feeling so guilty was the recently emptied violin case in the corner of his room, and the big wad of cash in his hand.

He continued to count the money over and over, a sick sense of satisfaction twisting at his stomach and contorting his face muscles into an obsessive grin.

* * *

**A/N**: Blah. YAY! 8th chapter. Thanks for reading (: Btw, thanks for the reminder Steph xD


	9. The First Project

Tamaki's eyes kept looking at me uncomfortably, and then his gaze would be instantly cast to the table, where a cup of coffee sat. He sipped at it, as a way to prolong the inevitable. If he insisted on having these "unavoidable meetings" he should at least have something to say. Apparently this whole occurrence was so "unfortunate".

"Um...I like what you've done with your hair. New hair cut?" I said, watching his eyes light up and knowing I struck gold.

"Yes, you noticed? Well, there's actually a funny story behind this." he launched into a story, the one topic he's always willing to talk about being himself. It was then that he realized what I was doing, and he cast me a degrading stare.

"Okay, that was low. Even for you." he muttered, retaining his reclusive composure.

I returned his stare and said abruptly, "Can we just get this over with? It's obvious neither one of us wants to be here, and I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for your job you _wouldn't _be here. So, let's just cut to the chase, hun."

He smiled bitterly, "I couldn't have said it better myself."

"I have a second clue. Here you go." I said, holding it out to him.

"Oh, no thank you. Apparently, I don't need to see any of the clues. You're the expert." he grumbled.

"Smart ass." I muttered.

"The smartest ass you know." he said with a wink. I was irritated yet I couldn't help but smile. I quickly hid it though as his eyes turned to my direction when he snatched the note out of my hand.

As he examined it he was grumbling to himself and it sounded a bit like this, "Kills laughter that sounds like someone I know (insert evil glare here). And empty holes it fills... (Insert laughter). Lies behind stars...bingo!"

"Did the genius discover something?" I said in a snarky voice.

"Darkness." he stated simply.

"What?" I asked.

"That's the answer. Darkness." he said nonchalantly. He reminded me of someone, with the way he said the word. Uncaring. Indifferent.

"Kyoya!" we both cried at the same time, "You little genius! No, you're the genius!"

We weren't mad at each other for a brief instant and we were jumping up and down like little children, high-fiving each other. Then Tamaki caught himself and returned to his reserved, mean demeanor.

"So, Kyoya is now on our most suspicious list." He then started coughing dramatically, "I think..._cough..._someone..._cough_...should..._cough cough..._"

"Okay! I get it. I'm sorry, Tamaki, okay. You're not a killer, I love your new haircut,you're a terrible actor, and you're the smartest ass I know." I said all at once.

Then a waitress came rushing over with a cup of water and said, "Are you okay, sir?"

Tamaki gave me that eat-your-words-BIOTCH look. Then he started coughing and responded weakly, "No, miss, I'm fine. You're so kind."

It caused the air head to giggle profusely and give us our drinks for free.

I looked up at him with a gaze crossed between admiration and disgust.

"You don't spend money in this town, do you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Have you ever seen me actually _pay_ for a cup of coffee?" he said, using his typical answer a question with a question response.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Maria was in orchestra again, playing away on her violin. Performing in orchestra was an unwanted obligation, considering most students weren't up to par with her abilities. Sure, a lot of them could probably beat her academically, but music was her strong point, and she didn't appreciate having to learn the basics like everyone else.

In front of the instructor, they would all treat Maria with utmost respect, but when backs were turned they ensued with their teasing.

"She's so obnoxious." they would whisper.

"She's a show-off." they would say to each other.

"She's an outcast. She doesn't belong here."

Silently, Maria would nod her head in agreement. She could be obnoxious. She may have been a 'show-off'. Hell, even she knew she was an outcast. She didn't belong there at the elite private school. But there was something funny about the whole situation.

Some of the girls, who would insult her, would be the same girls who showed up at the host club and went gaga over her alter ego, Mark. This made her laugh, and gave her comfort when she needed it. Imagine their faces if they found out!

So Maria just giggled to herself in the corner. By the end of the day, the very people who hated her would grow to love her.

So, was any form of emotions towards her also a lie?

This was another question that weighed down on her mind, and messed with her psych at every available moment.

**Maria's POV**

After the last Sex Ed. class Hikaru and Kaoru weren't nearly as eager to get to class. None of us were.

"We should have just skipped with you guys when we had the chance." said Kaoru, reminiscing about the time they forced us to go to class.

"That's still an option." I reminded them.

A mischievous grin spread on their identical faces, and Haruhi simply sighed, saying "I need to get new friends."

About five minutes later and we were wandering around the building, and then we decided to play hide and go seek.

"Okay. Rule number one. Hikaru and Kaoru cannot be together! They will pwn us and we will cry." said Haruhi.

"Yes, so Hikaru, you're it." I clarified.

The two pouted but agreed.

"And we can only use the second floor." said Haruhi.

Then, we were off, the three of us running like madmen as Hikaru counted.

Haruhi went off on her own. Everywhere I went Kaoru followed me like a lost puppy, so finally I whispered harshly to him, "Dude, find your own hiding spot!"

"B-But I'm scared. These hallways are spooky when they're empty." he stuttered, giving me a more adorable look than any toddler could master.

"Okay. Just please be quiet." I said. I then looked up and finally found the perfect hiding spot—the same closet Tamaki and I had our first meeting in.

I opened it and from Kaoru's point of view, I'm pretty sure the darkness looked terrifying. So I pushed him in first, only to hear him shriek like a girl.

"Come on, don't be a wuss." I said as I got in the closet myself.

Then I saw what he saw and I screamed. He screamed again. Then we screamed in unison.

"It's...it's..." my voice trailed off.

"What the hell are you dim-witted creatures trying to do? Did you think you could actually skip my class? Well then, come with me, I have something planned." She stopped to glare at a frightened Kaoru, "Especially for you."

Stephanie had the you-people-are-lucky-that-its-illegal-to-kill-someone-because-you're-pissed-off-at-them look on her face. If I wasn't scared shitless I would have laughed.

A couple of minutes later while walking in the hallway in silence I caught sight of Hikaru. He looked directly at us, but luckily Stephanie wasn't paying attention.

"Go." I mouthed the words, motioning for him to run.

"What?" he mouthed back, tilting his head to the side.

"Run." I mouthed, shaking my head. Was he an idiot?

It took him a while to figure it out, and once he started running Stephanie already caught his scent and turned around like a ninja.

"You!" she yelled while pointing.

"Shit." he muttered, as he joined the two of us in captivity.

**Out Of Maria's POV**

When the three arrived at the classroom, they discovered something. Haruhi was sitting in her chair innocently partaking in a class discussion. The one thing on all three of their minds was "What the hell?"

Haruhi saw them walk in and she waved while grinning. Remember when Haruhi went off on her own while Hikaru counted? Well, she went back to class. She had a feeling all of them were going to get caught, so she pretty much ditched.

Hikaru looked like he wanted to beat her up and Haruhi just stuck her tongue out at him mockingly. Kaoru just thought to himself, "I should have thought of that." Maria just sighed and thought, "Damn, she's good."

"Thanks to your fellow students and their tardiness, the whole class will have an extra week to do their project." announced Stephanie. The whole class groaned.

"What's so bad about an extra week? Isn't that a _good _thing?" asked Maria.

"Not this project." clarified Stephanie, "All the girls on one side of the room, all the boys on the other."

A boy named Spencer in their class was the first to catch on, "Oh no. You can't do this Ms. C." he started to protest.

Stephanie just smiled her evil smile and started pairing up girls and boys. Although occasionally she would pair up a girl with a girl and a guy with a guy saying, "There are gay couples in the real world, my kitties."

So, that would explain how Haruhi got paired up with Kaoru. They sat there in silence for a moment, awkwardly looking at each other, then Kaoru finally built up the courage to ask, "So, which one of us is the girl in the relationship?"

It was then that a tiny light bulb went off in Maria's head as she figured out what was going on. They were going to be parents for two weeks. We all know the high school project of having to carry a baby doll around and take care of it. But, this is Ouran we're talking about. These aren't just baby dolls.

They were highly sophisticated robots with higher intellegents. They moved like normal babies, they cried like normal babies, they even needed "food" like normal babies. If they were dropped, their damage was recorded and sent back to the teacher's computer. If they were exposed to outrageous amounts of cold or heat, they also responded.

It was basically just a really complicated doll, and it scared the crap out of Maria.

Especially since her partner was Hikaru.

**Maria's POV**

So, they expect me to lug these creepy behind babies around with me everywhere I go? _And _be partners with Hikaru?

"Hello, Maria." he said with a wink.

"Hi. Okay, in case you're wondering, don't expect to dump this whole project on me. We have to work as a _team_." I reminded him.

"Of course we're a team. After all, we _are_ a couple." he said, while he raised his hand to wrap around my shoulder.

I tilted my chair back while trying to avoid him, and I fell over with a huge _bang._

Of course, the whole class was laughing at me as I got up and evilly glared at the worst of the Hitachiins.

"Damn, Maria. I'm not _that _bad." he complained.

"You know, you're right. You're not bad..." I started off in a pleasant voice, "You're _terrible._"

"Bitch wanna fight?" he asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Why? So you could _lose_?" I asked.

If a new student were to walk in the classroom they would be worried. The scene looked like Hikaru and I were getting ready to duel to the death. But most of Class A new better. They were used to Hikaru and I killing each other one day and being best friends the next.

"Hey you guys. Break it up! Not in front of the baby." said Stephanie, motioning to that thing. Oh my God. Did it just blink?

I swear it just did. And...is its arms reaching out towards us? Does it want a hug?

"Hikaru, you're the man of the house, take care of that monster." I said, pushing him infront of me.

"Maria, I think we _both _know that I will piss my pants if I get anywhere near that thing." he stated, while running behind me.

"Take it like a man!" I teased.

"I'm not a man! I'm just a boy!" he cried.

Ms. Clark was laughing her ass off. Hikaru had been one of her most difficult students since day one and now she finally has him cowering in fear.

After five more minutes of arguing we agreed to hold the doll at the same time. I picked up the legs as Hikaru picked up the head, then Stephanie started to yell.

"It's a baby, not a Nintendo DS. Pick it up with care." she insisted.

"If I were to cut this thing open, I think it would resemble a Nintendo DS more than a human being." he grumbled. I laughed.

"Why don't you show us an example, Ms. Clark?" I asked.

"No, are you kidding me? Those things scare the crap out of me." she responded bluntly.

Yes, it has now become official. I hate school.

* * *

When I went to my locker I expected the usual. Another note maybe. Well, I did get another note, along with a bag that smelled like dead animals.

"Hikaruuuuuuuuuuu! I demand you get your gym clothes _out _of my locker." I yelled.

"We had a deal. I take the baby for today, and you do my laundry." he said.

"We had no such deal!" I protested.

"We do now." he said with a smile, then ran down the hallway before I could argue, while holding the baby upside down by the foot.

I sighed, then looked at Kaoru and Haruhi who were waiting up for me.

"Hey, Kaoru, he's your brother." I said, holding up the bag of death.

"Who do you think _usually _does the laundry?" he asked.

Haruhi looked at him like he just confessed to having a disease.

"Oh my god. I had no idea." she grabbed him into a hug, "You've been through so much."

I laughed at the two and told them I'd meet up with them in a bit. That's when I took the time to look at the note. But before I did I thought of something.

How did Hikaru get his gym clothes in my locker? It was possible that...no, I couldn't start doubting him too. But anyone with common sense could admit it was way too suspicious. If he was the killer, he could have dropped his gym clothes and the note off in the same go. If he wasn't, he would have seen someone trying to put something in my locker.

But that didn't make sense. We didn't even know we were going to be partners until a couple of minutes ago. He would have had to know in the morning, and have dropped it off then. If he dropped it off later then that I would have been there.

Or maybe he was planning on making me do his laundry days ago. You could never be sure with that guy. Either way, Hikaru just put himself on the suspect list again, right under Kyoya.

After that whole thought process, I put the note in my pocket. I would check it out after the Host Club, so I wouldn't get all paranoid about everything.

* * *

When I changed and got to the Host Club, Kyoya gave me his usual polite smile. I returned the gesture with a smile myself, but this time it was shaky and nervous. I was sure he noticed, he was keen on details. Yet he brushed it off, almost as if he would expect me to be nervous. Almost as if he knew something I didn't...

Haruhi and Kaoru were particularly popular with the ladies today, as they had spats over who would get to hold their "baby". It was as if they actually loved the thing.

"We're naming her Jamie." Kaoru said fondly while rocking that _thing _to sleep in his arms.

"Oh, come on! I want to hold her now." said Haruhi.

"Here you go. Be careful! Her pretty little head is fragile." said Kaoru.

Haruhi grabbed the baby and went gaga over it, carefully rocking it back and forth, saying "It's so cute!"

"Not as cute as you. You're the perfect parent." said Kaoru, obviously acting. Yet the girls fell for it and went wild. Some even fainted.

Hikaru sat grumbling in the corner, saying things like "I should be the one acting all cutesy ." and "Those customers should be mine."

Of course, Hikaru was suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Ever since the club started he was always a host with Kaoru. They were a team. But one little project split them apart.

"Don't worry about it." I said, "It's only two weeks."

"Two weeks of torture." he muttered. Although he was oblivious to the fact that he also had a lot of customers that day. No one could resist a jealous twin. Even if he might be a killer.

As I walked out of the meeting I was stopped by Kyoya. He had a very rare expression on his face. It was a face of worry.

"Maria, I've been meaning to ask you...have you been feeling okay lately?" he asked, obviously uncomfortable from showing his emotions.

"I mean, it's effecting your sales." he quickly added. I smiled.

"I'm fine, really. Thanks for the concern." I said, watching him cringe at the word "concern".

"Are you positive? You've been acting strange lately. And so has Tamaki..." the creases in his forehead deepened.

"Worried about your lover?" I asked, jokingly.

"N-No. Tamaki and I are just business associates." he clarified.

"Lord, don't die of a heart attack. I'm just joshin' ya." I said.

"Joshin' ya?" he repeated.

"I'm joking, Kyoya. You know, just foolin'? Just playing around?" I gave a few examples.

"I'm familiar with the term." he said, "Just, if you have any problems, talk to me. Oh, and tell Tamaki I'm...worried about him."

I was about to walk out of the door, but before I did I turned to him and said, "You know, there's nothing wrong with caring about your friends. It's not a weakness. More than anything, it gives us strength."

He gave me a surprised look, as if he didn't expect me to be the one giving _him _advice.

"I'll remember that." he said with a genuine smile, "Good day, Ms. Standford."

"Catch you later, Kyo." I said and left before he could protest my new nickname for him.

* * *

While walking home, and having Tamaki right on my tale whining, "Can I see the note nowwww?" I had no choice but to open the note.

Note:

**Dear Maria,**

**Blah, blah, blah. You know the deal.**

**Third Clue:**

**You saw me where I never was and where I could not be. And yet within that very place, my face you often see. What am I?**

"Okay, if I wasn't completely brain dead right now I'd be able to figure that out." said Tamaki. He had his extremely hard Literature class at the end of the day.

I sighed. Was I really that stupid? I had no idea what it was either.

Tamaki and I were walking home together because we figured we needed to start taking the case seriously. We treated it as a hobby, and not as a life threatening situation. So, our excuse in case anyone asks is that we formed a study group.

When we got home I bumped into Connor. He tried to say something to me but I was really in a hurry.

"Listen, I know I was home late again. But Mom's away on a business trip. She doesn't have to know, right?" I pleaded.

"That's not what I was going to say." he started, then he noticed Tamaki, "What's the gay doing here?"

"First, I'm ninety percent sure he's straight. Second, he's doing his homework here. Hope you don't mind?" I said, putting on that your-adorable-little-sister smile I had mastered at the age of three.

"Fine. Just, no funny business." he said with a sigh.

"Funny business? I'm gay, remember?" called Tamaki spitefully as I dragged him up the stairs.

When we got up there Tamaki started on his Literature homework. After all, we technically weren't lying. It was then that he cried out in excitement.

"Oh my!" he cried while jumping out of his chair.

"Wow, your class is that exciting?" I asked while tackling my Calculus homework.

"No, it just happens to have the same riddle that was in your note!" he exclaimed.

I jumped up and looked in his textbook. There it was, plain as day.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Flip to the back for the answer!" I exclaimed.

He flipped as fast as he could, and then out of excitement dropped the book. I picked it up quickly and flipped through it as well. All the while we were jumping up and down with excitement.

"I got it! I got it! Okay, let's see..." I said, as he leaned over me to get a look at the answer himself.

When we saw the answer our mouths dropped open. It was so simple...so obvious...why didn't we think of it before?

The answer was...

* * *

**A/N**: Do you know the answer? Or are you going to google it =) Haha. Next chapter done in a day or two...or three ;D


	10. The First Shock

"Reflection?" we said in unison.

The idea immediately clicked into both of our minds. We jumped up and said, "The twins! Stop doing that! Grrrr."

I don't know what it was about working on a murder mystery together...but it had a tendency to start making us talk in unison. Would you call...bonding?

"Now I am _really _confused." said Tamaki.

"Ditto." I said.

"The clues seem to lead to a different person each time." he observed.

"Yeah, first person being _you_." I reminded.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" he said, eyes narrowed.

"I already let it go. In fact, I don't even remember that clue." I said with a smile.

"So, what would you do if I confessed to being the killer?" he asked with a sinister grin on his face as he got closer, "What if I told you...you only had five minutes to live?"

You should have seen the way he laughed when I ran away from him into the kitchen. I was freaking terrified. After a couple of minutes Tamaki descended down the staircase with the grandest look of achievement on his face.

"Shit, dude, don't joke like that!" I said, hitting him in the shoulder.

"I don't know what it is you said, but Maria looked like she was going to piss her pants." said Connor over a bowl of soup.

"Thanks...for clarifying that." I said sarcastically.

"What exactly did you tell her?" asked Connor.

"I got down on one knee and I said 'I love you, Maria. Let's get married.'" he said, completely improvising.

By then they were both laughing, and I wasn't really mad anymore. Well, I was still a little pissed, but I guess you can say not _as _pissed.

"Yeah, so we really should be going now." said Tamaki, grabbing his sweater.

"Where are you guys going?" asked Connor.

"Yeah, where are we going?" I asked, completely oblivious to this kid's plans.

By then Tamaki had that twinkle back in his eyes, the one he had the very first day I met him.

"We're going to visit the twiiiiiins." he said with absolute glee.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Maria was just amazed at how close the twins lived to her this whole time. In fact, she passed their house everyday on the way to school. It turned out they lived in the huge mansion that all the kids of her neighborhood used to stare at, and fantasize about.

"I'm going to live there when I'm older." one kid would say.

"Please, I'm going to have a house _twice _as huge." another would argue.

The truth was, none of them were going to live in a mansion. They needed the genes, or the wits, or the money. That's what it was all about in the end. But Maria never spoiled their fun. Childhood was all about having irrational dreams.

"Dude, wait until I tell my neighbors I know the people who live here!" she exclaimed as she ran across the lawn and to the doorstep.

"Don't run there! Maria, watch your step!" Tamaki warned her as he used the stone path like a normal individual.

She rang the doorbell several times then took a while to survey the beautiful lawn. It had a porcelain bird bath and beautiful bushes shaped like animals and a wonderful flower bed.

"This house is more amazing then your house!" Maria exclaimed as soon as Tamaki was standing beside her.

"Yeah, thanks a lot." he said sarcastically.

"You're welcome. Oh my god. Is that a pond? And does it have _coy _fish in it?" she asked, getting even more ecstatic. She looked like a five year old who as just told they had an all access pass to Toys R Us.

She rang the doorbell several more times at a spectacular speed, like she was on drugs. Then she heard footsteps.

"Someone's coming!" she exclaimed with a grin on her face while jumping up and down. Tamaki couldn't help but laugh. Maria could be such a child.

A maid answered the door and let them in. She then called upstairs for Hikaru and Kaoru, as well as Haruhi who was also visiting.

"What is daddy's little girl doing at a boy's house?" demanded Tamaki.

"Calm down, Tamaki. We're just doing a project." Haruhi clarified.

"More like dismantling a project." clarified Kaoru.

Kaoru and Haruhi explained that they were trying to figure out a way to turn the "baby's" sensors off. That way, they could completely ignore it for the next two weeks, and still get an A.

"I'm assuming you're here to pick up the baby?" asked Hikaru.

"No, you just got it today. Plus, I'm doing your laundry. You should keep it for the whole week." said Maria.

Tamaki sat there with a devious grin on his face.

"Do you know something we don't?" asked Haruhi.

"Let's just say...I sort of know where the off-switch is." whispered Tamaki.

Everyone's eyes got wide, and they all gathered around him like it was story time. He kept motioning for them to come closer and closer.

"It's...the left eye." he whispered.

"What?" they all exclaimed at once.

"All you do is press the left eye on the doll." he instructed.

Hikaru and Kaoru both held the dolls (Hikaru still holding it upside down by the leg) and did as instructed. The little monster instantly became lifeless in their hands.

"I...feel like I just killed something." said Kaoru, almost getting depressed.

That reminded Tamaki and Maria why they even visited in the first place. Right on cue, Haruhi had somewhere to be, and she left. Tamaki and Maria narrowed their eyes suspiciously, trying to pick up a clue, any clue.

"Why are you guys looking at us like that?" asked Kaoru.

"It's sort of disturbing." added Hikaru.

Tamaki knew this tactic wouldn't get them anywhere. They were acting too suspiciously. He knew he shouldn't rush things. He should take it one step at a time...so why is it he found himself asking, "When is the last time you've been to France?"

Maria gave him a look that screamed "could you get any more obvious?" He glanced back apologetically. Yet Maria found herself following his lead, asking, "Yeah, was it two years ago?"

The bad thing about them working together was that they didn't complement each other at all. You know the whole situation where one person's weakness was another person's strength? Well, they didn't have that. They had the same strengths. They had the same weaknesses. So, in this particular situation they both ended up being babbling idiots.

Yet, to their surprise the twins answered, "Yes. We visited France two years ago. Sometime in the summer."

Tamaki and Maria stared. Either they were innocent, or they were just really stupid. They met the qualifications perfectly.

"Why do you ask?" inquired Kaoru.

"Umm...err...we were...thinking of visiting there! As a...club sponsored trip!" stammered Tamaki.

"What ever you say, boss." said Hikaru, "If that's all you came to ask, you guys can leave now."

"No. I also came to ask...what kind of laundry detergent do you use?" said Maria.

"Tide. And remember to separate by colors. Bye now." said Hikaru as he pushed the duo out of the house and slammed the door.

"Well, that was rude!" exclaimed Tamaki.

"I'm planning on screwing up his laundry on purpose now." muttered Maria.

"They seemed to be in a rush to make us leave." observed Tamaki.

"No duh! They realized we were _on to them_." said Maria.

"What do you mean 'them'? It's only one twin. It said killer, not killers." Tamaki reminded her.

**Maria's POV**

Damn. Now, not only did we have new suspects, but they were twins. This means we have to decide between two identical people.

"I vote for Hikaru. Can we leave it at that?" I asked.

"No, I vote for Kaoru. He's too nice." said Tamaki.

I then looked at our surroundings and ushered him away from the yard.

"We probably shouldn't be discussing our suspicions on their front steps." I mentioned.

After about ten minutes of chatting and coming up with absolutely nothing, we decided it'd be better to just wait for the next clue. Whoever the killer was, they just adored wasting our time.

* * *

The next day of school was pretty uneventful. I sat through hours of lessons. I went to orchestra. Sex Ed was cancelled for that day. It was really boring. That's when it occurred to me...

My life without the mystery sucked.

Now, I'm not saying it was just a little uneventful. I mean, it _really _sucked. It kind of made me wonder what I would do after the case was solved. Would I go back to...all of _this_? This nothingness? Was solving this case really worth giving away all I've gained?

_Yes_, I thought to myself, _it kind of is._

But then the irrational part of my mind took over, telling me, _Why are you risking it all for the man that tried to kill you? Why are other people's lives being gambled for the sake of your corrupt father?_

Now, the hidden remnants of my mind had a point. But, it was still wrong. People were in danger. Tamaki and I were supposed to protect them. So that was what we would do.

The conversation I had with Kyoya suddenly replayed in my mind. The one about destiny. Now, Kyoya believed in very few things, and destiny was one of them. That got me thinking.

It was my destiny to solve this case. It had to be. It was no one else's.

Yet...it was still tempting to make a mistake here or there, and to prolong the end that was so near, and threatening to take it all away.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Connor realized the only thing keeping him at Ouran was his musical skills. He knew what it would amount to. Eventually he would have to leave the school. But he wasn't upset. In fact, he thought it was all for the best.

Everyone raved about his skills. They said "You're going to be great!" or "Wow, just listen to him play."

That wasn't the bad part. The worst was when they said, "He plays just like his father."

"No!" he would yell when no one was around, "I'm not him!" He would say as he banged his hands repeatedly into the table.

He would stare at himself in the mirror. He was the spitting image of him. Maria had the blessing of looking like their mother. Yes, their mother, the uneventful and ordinary one. But Connor had to look like the famous musician. He had to live up to that famous musician.

He remembers the time, about a year after his dad died, when he was walking on the street. A very kind old man stopped midstep and said to his wife, "Why, I'm seeing ghosts! It's that Standford fellow! Isn't he dead?"

Connor ran more than he ever had in his whole life. He didn't really have any true direction. He just wanted to get away from the scene.

"I-I'm alive. I'm my own person. I'm not him!"

And now his father was probably the only reason he was even popular.

If they kicked him out of the school, it would be fine. It was all for the best.

**Maria's POV**

Here I was, at my locker. For once the twins and Haruhi weren't there. After all, since class was cancelled we were on opposite sides of the building. I was stuck with an extra hour of orchestra, Haruhi was stuck in physics, Kaoru was stuck in gym, and Hikaru was stuck in Trigonometry.

Wait a minute. Why was class cancelled? Was Stephanie busy with some agency thing? Some _major _agency thing? Maybe they were sending in backup. Maybe they finally realized that Tamaki and I are _failing _at this alone.

That reminded me. How in the world did Tamaki make contact with this agency? I was going to have to ask him these questions later. Right now I was paying attention to the huge poster that fell out of my locker. Now the killer was getting creative.

There was this huge poster absolutely covered in smiley faces. Like, I'm not talking as decoration. It was _saturated _with little yellow smiley faces. It was actually kind of creepy. In the center it had a clue:

Note:

**Dear Maria,**

**Having fun yet? :D**

**Fourth clue:**

**If you drop me I'm sure to crack but give me a smile and I'll always smile back.**

**Love,**

**You- Know -Who.**

After reading what he signed the note as I resisted the urge to say, "Voldemort?" But enough about my Harry Potter obsession.

I read the clue over a couple of times, and then I got the "joke". Smiling back. Haha. Funny. I'm sure he'd be smiling when I find him and get someone to punch his face in.

I thought about all of the answers I had so far: piano, darkness, and reflection. All three of them had nothing to do with each other. You can't see your reflection in the darkness, and you can't really play the piano in the darkness either. You couldn't see your reflection in a piano and...well, let's just say there are a lot of combinations. I've been mulling this over for a while.

Yet, this clue _did _have something to do with the previous clue. The previous answer was reflection, and the answer to this one is mirror.

A mirror contains a reflection. That was a little tidbit of information that I'd keep in my mind for later.

I went to host club with an eye out for smiles. It was at that moment that I realized people smile _a lot_. Except Mori. Duh.

Tamaki had the widest grin on his face the whole meeting. I just knew that he was going to come to me with some sort of excellent news. Why was everyone happy but me?

"Mark? Are you okay?" asked my female customer as I seemed to stare off into space. I had a tendency to do that, but you already know.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I assure her. I really was fine...until a deranged Stephanie came bursting through the door.

"Why did you guys skip my class?" she yelled. All chatter in the room stopped, the music stopped playing, and everyone stared.

"Um, your class was cancelled." said Haruhi.

"What are you talking about? I think I would know if my class was cancelled or...wait a minute, that's right." she said, remembering.

She then scanned the room and found Tamaki and I. She shot an apologetic glance at our customers.

"I'm sorry; I'll have to borrow these two for a bit. I hope you don't mind." she said, grinning sheepishly. She was so good at pretending to be nice.

Our customers quickly obliged because of her kindness and then we were having a meeting in her room.

"I have something to tell you-Tamaki? What has you smiling?" asked Stephanie, obviously noticing his smile as well.

"Well, a little birdie just told me that Maria and I have been nominated to compete in the International Tournament of Music." said Tamaki.

We all grew silent. This overwhelming feeling of pride washed over me. In case you weren't aware, Tamaki and I being entered in the International Tournament of Music, ITOM for short, was almost the equivalent of a swimmer being in the Olympics. I was getting ready to faint. This was amazing news.

"Way to go and trump my news, Tamaki." said Stephanie grumpily, "How am I supposed to top that?"

Tamaki gave her a grin and nudged her, as if encouraging her to try. All of this wasn't really apparent to me at the time; I was in a hazy fog of euphoria.

Stephanie shook her head suddenly, as if the mentioning of our news just basically ruined the point of telling her news, "I saw you were down and I wanted to cheer you up. But it looks like that's already been done." she said bitterly.

"Come on. We're partners. Partners don't keep things from each other." he chided.

" _Former _partners. I'm your superior now. I can keep whatever secrets I want." she said coldly, crossing her arms and turning her head.

"But you won't." he said with confidence.

"Why not?" she asked.

"We all know you can't keep a secret." he reminded her.

"Fine, I'll tell you, but you didn't hear it from me. Understand, squirt?"

"Yeah, whatever. Spill it." he said, his left leg bouncing up and down from anticipation. I noticed this because I had fallen to the floor; both of them too deep in conversation to notice. Between you and me, I was gazing up from a pretty odd angle.

"Well, the agency is keeping their promise." said Stephanie, well, more like coughed.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"This is overwhelming news." she smiled at him, and although it was a sad smile, she seeming truly happy for her "little rookie","They're going to let you speak to your mother."

He looked like he just had the wind knocked out of him. His face lost its healthy color and his normally lively eyes dulled tremendously.

"Champ, you should be happy? What's wrong? Champ?" quizzed Stephanie, shaking him gently.

I have no idea what happened next. That little ounce of shock, added onto my already weakened brain from the mind-blowing news I had received, landed me straight into unconsciousness. I wonder if those two noticed me on the ground now.

* * *

**A/N: **LALALALALA. I have something planned, why yes, I do (: Next chapter in a day or two. Maybe a week. Also, trying to get the musical influences back in my story. It's been..._musicless_ for the last couple chapters .


	11. The First Recruit

I awoke with a stir, and I found myself laying in the nurse's office. I propped myself up on my elbow to observe my surroundings. Stephanie, Tamaki, and the school nurse were explaining what happened to my brother. Connor was listening intently, and then interjected to argue.

"Maria's not one to suddenly pass out like that. Maybe she was simply dizzy. I heard she skipped lunch today." he sounded like a defensive yet concerned mother.

I'm not sure if it was me being half conscious, or if it was simply my imagination, but his eyes seemed to look frantic.

_It's not a big deal_, I wanted to say, _Go back to class, Connor_. I simply wanted to get him out of the room. Since when did he become so protective?

_Since Dad died_, I reminded myself. With mom gone all the time, and Dad six feet under, he was all I had. I needed Connor. It was something my pride usually got in the way of me admitting. I needed him.

_**And he needed me**_**.**

What? Where had that thought come from? Those four words, in that combination, took me by surprise. It was just such a ludicrous concept. I had been so _blind_. I had been so _selfish._ Had I only taken a couple seconds out of my day to pay him any mind, I would have known. It was a harsh reality to face how careless I had been.

_**He needed me too.**_

They noticed I was awake now, and they started over to the cot where I was. Connor was the first one there, leaning over me and putting a hand to my forehead.

"Do you need to get home, Maria? I can take you." he offered, kindly.

I looked at his worried face, which had aged tremendously ever since we got to this school. He looked so damn different, it was unsettling.

_**And I wasn't there for him.**_

Tears. I was crying now. What's wrong with me? Why am I acting so ridiculously? Maybe I need a nap.

"Are you alright?"Connor asked.

"It's none of your business." I snapped. Wait, why was I saying these things?

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"It's not a big deal. Get back to class, Connor."I said, my words as sharp as knives.

Why on Earth was I so cruel? He needed me. Why couldn't I be there? Why was I turning him away? Oh no, now he's leaving the nurse's office. He's out the door now. He was just looking out for me, just like a big brother should. He was just trying to be there, and I shunned him. This probably wasn't the first time I had done this.

Why was I acting like this? Was it because of the stress I've been under lately? But it was more than that. There was something wrong. It was then that it dawned on me why I was so being so mean, and why I was acting in such a melancholic way.

Connor was the spitting image of Dad.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Tamaki gazed at Maria, who was now crying. Today had taken such a terrible turn. First is Maman, and now this.

It's not as if he wasn't happy about the aspect of talking to his mother. If he had been given this news a couple months ago he would have been ecstatic. But hanging around Maria taught him something. Not everyone was interested in his happiness. Some people were willing to lie, and cheat, just to make sure Tamaki stayed completely ignorant. It was something he could even admit to doing, when he kept secrets from Maria.

The agency was lying. It somehow reached them that he was having thoughts about quitting, and then in such a short time they've come up with this whole "you can talk to your mother" shtick. It was all too happy and coincidental for Tamaki to buy it. Normally, he would think this was Maria's paranoia rubbing off on him, but this time he was sure there was reason to be concerned.

He was terrified of what they would do if they realized he was wising up. What would they say if they found out he wasn't the same gullible little boy that they tricked into joining years ago? What would they do if they knew he couldn't be there little adorable puppet anymore? Then he would be of no use to them.

_And we all know what happens after I become useless_, he thought coldly.

He just wasn't sure what to think anymore. On one hand, if he had never met Maria, he would have stayed in ignorant bliss for what would seem to be the rest of his life. On the other hand, maybe he was better off that way.

_Why'd I ever get involved in this mess in the first place?_ He wondered, silently. It was then that he remembered exactly why.

* * *

He remembers an outraged Grandmother, being petrified by the very thought of his existence. He remembers bouts of fury that went on between the two families, where a lot of hurtful words would be said. He remembers violence. A lot of violence. And he remembers beautiful piano music playing through it all, being his only sanctuary in a time of disarray and madness.

Then it happened so suddenly. He was on a plane; he was being dragged off to Japan. He barely got a chance to say goodbye to his mother.

It was then that a beautiful lady with a scarf that covered all the way up to her eyes sat right next to Tamaki. Tamaki's mother taught him very well, and he knew not to talk to strangers. But this stranger had hair that reminded him of his mother, and this stranger had the same eyes. It was a comfort, and he figured his maman wouldn't mind.

"Why are you so sad, little one?" asked the woman.

"I...you wouldn't understand." replied Tamaki swiftly, reverting his eyes to the clouds drifting by lazily through his window.

"Oh, but I do. I understand more than you know." she said, a slight French accent in her voice. That was another thing this stranger had in common with his family.

"Really now?" he asked, skeptically.

"Yes, I do, Tamaki." she gave an exasperated sigh, "I miss my mommy too."

He instantly sprang up in his seat and gave a smile towards the woman.

"Where is your mother?" asked Tamaki.

It was then that the woman's eyes seemed to twinkle as she lowered down her scarf, revealing a terrible, disfiguring gash underneath. Tamaki gasped and buried his head in his hands, trying to will himself to not act so shamefully.

"No need to be afraid, my dear. My mother is with the very same people who gave me this scar. But I know a way to get her back. And I bet you can get your mommy back too." said the woman, her voice as smooth as silk.

"Really?" said Tamaki, looking up now.

"Really." her voice was now taking a devious edge, "I know some people that want to help us both. But we have to help them first."

"I-I'll do anything. I'll _give _anything. Just tell me how." he said, with a determined glare. He was being truthful.

The woman was simply filled with glee. She couldn't believe how easy it was to manipulate this boy. He was so gullible.

"I will, I will. All in due time, Tamaki. You'll get to see your mother again, and you'll finally be happy." she assured him.

And he believed it.

**Maria's POV**

After I fully regained consciousness, I headed out of the nurse's office, and to my locker. I had to get my stuff before I went home. Stephanie had to sprint somewhere, grumbling something about "teaching duties".

Tamaki walked by my side, but he was unusually quiet. He didn't look quite as shocked now that the news had sunk in, but he was still acting peculiar.

"Dude, I think I know what'll cheer you up." I said, as I ran into my locker and retrieved the killer's clever poster.

"Look! They're smiling!" I exclaimed with my most excited voice. Tamaki started to laugh but I had a feeling it was only to make me happy.

He read it over and arrived at the answer just as quickly as I had. Mirror.

"Interesting. But, let's talk about that later." he said. That was the first time Tamaki had ever put anything else in front of solving the mission.

"Okay? What's up?" I asked, clearly seeing he really needed to talk to me.

"You were crying." he stated.

"No, really? Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm human. I cry." I answered.

"Yeah, but I think I know what'll cheer _you _up." he said.

"But you're the one who needs cheering up." I observed.

"No, you are." he retorted.

"No, you." I said.

"Okay, can we please not get into an argument about who needs cheering up? I seriously have something to tell you." he said.

"Okay. Tell me."

"Well...this year' s ITOM is going to be in a foreign location. Specifically...France!" he exclaimed.

"We're going to _France?_" I exclaimed.

"Most of the school is. Everyone's parents are sponsoring their tickets." he said.

"I wonder if the killer will still have time to send clues." I muttered.

He stared at me in disbelief, and then shook my shoulders while yelling, "Earth to Maria! We're going to France!"

He then stopped shaking me and said, "We have _a lot _more going on then this case."

"I wonder how I'm going to pay for my ticket." I said out loud, because it just dawned on me.

"It's already taken care of! You're a competitor." he reminded me.

How the hell were Tamaki and I supposed to focus on a case when we were going to be surrounded by delicious food, adoring music fans, and attractive French people?

"Maybe the Host Club could go global. I heard girls in France enjoy that sort of thing." said Tamaki with a dangerous glimmer in his eye. I wasn't the only one thinking of attractive French people.

**Out of Maria's POV**

With all the excitement Maria didn't even lay eyes on the fresh clue that was tacked to her locker. She didn't even notice that the clue fell out as she walked away. She didn't stick around long enough to see a pair of violet eyes shielded by glasses notice the note, and pick it up.

"I believe this belongs to Maria." said Kyoya, taking the note up swiftly, and carrying it away.

**Maria's POV**

Tamaki went home early. We both agreed that the two of us together when we were this excited could amount to something dangerous. Hikaru called a couple of times to asking for his laundry, which I completely forgot to do.

I finished it, making sure to mix his whites with the rest of his clothing, resulting in multi colored boxers. The thought of Hikaru wearing rainbow boxers under his clothing made me smile.

I didn't get much sleep that night. It's as if there was something wrong. It wasn't just tonight. It was several nights. There was something going on. It wasn't as if it was too noisy, no, it was quite the contrary. It was too quiet. I know I sound like my usual paranoid self, but I mean it.

It was then that I realized what was missing. There was an absence of music.

Specifically, there was an absence of my brother playing a mournful tune on his violin.

* * *

The next morning I went to the kitchen. I realized my life was becoming way too repetitive. One morning, I should just skip breakfast at the house, call the host club, and totally have breakfast at some greasy fast-food restaurant. I know, I know. That sounded like something Tamaki would do to "explore the commoner lifestyle". What can I say? Idiocy can be contagious.

My brother was reading the newspaper and he instantly showed me the front page. Now everyone knew about me being an ITOM competitor. Connor wore a proud smile on his face.

"This is amazing, Maria. All I can say is: you've earned it. You really have worked hard." he said.

Don't say that. I was completely nasty and rude to you. I've earned nothing.

"Thanks, bro. I've been feeling a bit uneasy about it, but you always know just what to say." I told him. The way his eyes lit up made me happy.

I'm not going to lie. My original intention of coming down so early for breakfast was to prosecute him about his violin. But it was his life. And I was tired of interfering.

* * *

I went to all my morning classes, than I headed to lunch. Hikaru and Kaoru instantly grabbed me, and started taking me into the hall.

"She didn't even eat lunch yet! Put her down, she has feet!" Haruhi protested. But the twins wouldn't have it. I was used to it. This was probably the tenth time this year.

I made it to the doors of the familiar music room. It was pushed open to reveal a mini celebration. The host club, along with many girls _and _boys were gathered around. For some reason, no one found it odd that Mark was absent the same day I was here. Oh well, rich people aren't exactly known for their brains.

"Let me guess. You put this together." I said to Kyoya. He didn't admit to anything and simply winked.

I spent time with everyone at the party, although Honey insisted I spend extra time with him, because he had a new assortment of cakes for me to try.

"Isn't it yummy?" he exclaimed, stuffing my mouth with forkful after forkful of sugary goodness. It was yummy...the first thirty bites.

"I-I think I'm full." I said, and then his eyes started to water.

"F-F-Full?" his lips quivered, "Don't tell me your going to leave me here, to finish this cake all _alone."_

Girls gathered to watch the display, mouths opened in awe.

"Um, I'm sure I can make room for more!" I said cheerily, although I felt stuffed to the brim.

Trust me when I say Tamaki was getting even more attention. He seemed to be enjoying it more than me too. Stephanie was here too, making sure his head wouldn't swell to the size of a house with pride.

Even Connor was there with some of his friends from class.

I noticed that while I wasn't looking another clue was slipped to me:

Note:

**Dear Maria,**

**Your guesses are interesting enough. I see your getting a little side-tracked. I bestow upon you, a fifth clue. You can thank me later.**

**Fifth clue:**

**The more you take, the more you leave behind.**

**Love,**

**Anonymous**

It seemed like the whole gang was here, and that was simply the perfect time to strike.

A scream erupted from one of the girls. She was pointing up at the ceiling. We all looked up. Painted on the ceiling were three terrifying, yet familiar words.

_Death is near._

And everyone turned to stare at us as Tamaki and I yelled simultaneously, "As if we didn't already know that!"

* * *

**A/N: New chapter in the SAME DAY. I can't really deny it when inspiration comes knocking on my door. They're going to France :O. Next chaap, in a snap (;**


	12. The First Trip

"Our lives suck." I observed out loud as guests swarmed around in panic. Kyoya was looking at me with a questioning glare as if to say, "What exactly do you know?" Well, I was giving him the exact same look.

I noticed that Mori didn't act surprised at all, but he never acts surprised. I can't use that against him. Honey was freaking out too, running around the room yelling "WAHHHHH!" It actually would have been quite amusing if it weren't for recent circumstances.

The twins and Haruhi were nowhere in sight and I was highly suspicious until I saw them immerge from under the couch. They obviously took shelter there to avoid the excitement.

Tamaki made his way over to me from across the room, eyes widened with fear. He took me to a corner to discuss what was going on.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," he said in an exasperated voice, "But don't we still have two more days left before—" he lowered his voice dramatically, "Something like _this _can happen?"

"We had two days before someone is _killed_. I guess this is just the killer's way of wreaking havoc until then." I clarified.

He plopped down on the nearest couch, appearing as if the life was drained out of him. Then again, this might not be so. He's always been a fan of dramatics.

"Our lives suck." he said.

"That's what I said." I told him.

We looked to Kyoya who was trying to calm everyone down as I thought bitterly: _Trying to back track your own steps, aye?_

Sometimes the way these people reacted was ridiculous. Did they always have to act like cartoon characters? Couldn't they pull themselves together?

It was then that I saw the twins climb onto a chair. It gave them elevation and they were now towering over everyone in the room. I caught wind of what they were about to do so I covered my ears.

Kaoru took out the gym teacher's whistle (how he got his hands on it is beyond me, but he's been using it all year) and by the look on everyone's faces he blew it with all his might.

When I was sure it was safe I took my hands away from my ears, only to be disturbed by Hikaru yelling "Shut up!" You may not be aware of it, but Hikaru is one of the loudest bastards I have ever crossed paths with.

He then cleared his throat and said, "Calm down, everyone. It's obvious we have a vandal at the party, but this is nothing to be frightened of. Don't take it seriously."

"Okay, someone's lying. All of them are acting as if they know nothing about this." whispered Tamaki.

"I vote we just send all of their asses to jail." I said jokingly, but Tamaki looked deadly serious as he agreed.

"Tamaki, stop stressing. One day you'll meet your prince charming and he'll sweep you off your feet, and take you away from this horrid place." I said, fighting to keep a straight face. Even I had joined in on the gay jokes.

"I think if I hang around _you_ long enough, I _will _become the killer." he muttered, but I could see a small smile under his gloomy expression.

"Is that a confession?" I mused.

"It's whatever you want it to be." he said.

**Out of Maria's POV**

That same day at midnight, everyone was on a plane heading to France. Apparently everyone was ready and packed except Maria. Even Connor went home early and packed without her.

Maria just quickly threw some of her clothes, her wallet, her violin case, and basic necessities into a small duffle bag, cursing profusely as she boarded the plane.

"You know, you needn't worry. I'd be more than happy to buy you anything you need when we get there." offered Kyoya.

"Yeah, because you have money pouring out of your—" she was cut-off abruptly when the twins collided with her at full speed, sending her into the neighboring person.

"Sorry, the twins are at it again. They insisted we play a game of football." said Haruhi, grinning apologetically.

"On the plane?"

Tamaki had the biggest grin on his face as he skipped over to Maria, "Look who's in a sour mood. Cheer up; do you have any idea where we're going?"

Then the smile instantly dropped off of his face, as if it just dawned on him where exactly the plane was headed.

"W-We're going to France." he stated, "Oh my god, we're going to France!"

France was a place that held many memories for them both. Tamaki couldn't believe why it took him so long to figure out why Maria was in a bad mood. She was revisiting the place where her father was killed. She was revisiting the place where she was _supposed _to be killed.

But Tamaki also had a reason to fret. His mom was here. Or _was _here. For all he knew she could have been dead for years. He knew first hand it wasn't odd for the agency to lie.

"I think its better that we don't discuss any of..._that _stuff here." said Tamaki, "It's like a vacation. This whole trip is being made just for us. How could you _not _smile?"

"Just watch me." she said, as her frown deepened.

"When we land at noon, you better be smiling." he said.

"Okay, one, you forgot about the time difference, we're landing at five in the morning. And two, what exactly might happen if I'm _not _smiling?" she asked.

"Well, then _this _will happen." with a snap of his fingers the twins were tickling Maria mercilessly, and she found it pretty hard to start bitching when she was laughing uncontrollably.

Other students all turned around to stare, and Maria was trying her best to curse them out.

"So—hahahaha—not—GASP—fair! Two against—hahahaha—one!" her eyes were wide with surprise, and she was having trouble breathing.

A bunch of students were laughing at the display as well, even Kyoya, who secretly gave Tamaki the whole idea in the first place.

Connor wasn't only laughing, but he was on the floor. It was very rare to see Maria like this, and he was enjoying it while he could.

**Maria's POV**

About half an hour after that attack most of the plane was sleeping, except for Kyoya who was typing away furiously on his laptop. That guy, always doing some sort of work. It was starting to get ridiculous. Or maybe he was typing another _clue_. Honestly, out of everyone in the Host Club, he was the one I was most suspicious of. Sure, recent events lead to the twins being our prime suspects, but I couldn't take my mind off of this Kyoya guy. He was too _mysterious_. He was too _polite. _He was one of the few people I've met who actually prefer being behind the scenes. He basically ran the club, and he rarely took credit for any of it. He...he...

"That _is _why they call me the shadow king." he said, making me jump out of my skin. Damn. I was thinking out loud again.

"How much of that did you hear?" I asked, my eyes narrowed.

"Just the part about me preferring to be behind the scenes. Why? Was there more?" he asked, his polite smile looking especially sinister under the glow of his computer.

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean...nunya." I finally decided on resorting to old child-hood responses.

"Nunya?" he questioned.

"None of your." I explained.

"And I assume that sentence ends with the word business?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"So why didn't you simply say, 'None of your business'?" he asked.

"Because...what are you working on anyway?" I asked, tilting my head to get a better view of the screen. Just as quickly he blocked the screen, and lowered it down.

"Nunya." he replied slyly.

I have to admit, this guy was good.

"Is it something you don't want me to see?" I challenged.

"No, not at all." he responded.

"Let me guess, porn? If so, that's cool. I don't judge. Teenage hormones and what not." I said nonchalantly. I even threw in a yawn for good measure.

"N-No!" I could see the mini heart-attack going on, and he was blushing liberally, "Nothing like that."

"Oh, I know!" I said, practically gushing, "It's a _love letter_."

"Why must you provoke me?" he asked.

"What are you going to do? Sing her a serenade her? Maybe teach her the tango?" I bugged.

"It's not a love letter." he was almost whining now. I gave myself a mental pat on the back. I got Kyoya to lose his cool. I get a gold star.

"Let me guess, it's addressed to _Tamaki_."

He almost exploded, and I think he would have if it weren't for the plane attendants giving us night creatures a nasty look.

He breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself.

"It is not a _love _letter." he looked as if he were about to get sick, "You should know how I feel about such arbitrary things."

"So, are you suggesting that it _is _a letter of some sort?" I asked, getting closer to my real goal.

"No, I'm suggesting that you go to bed, Maria. You have a long day ahead of you." he said.

"What are you, my mom?" I teased, and then I got the image of Kyoya walking around in a dress and with a purse, saying, "How was your day at school, dear?"

I had to stifle my laughter, and Kyoya was giving me an annoyed glare.

"Not so nice now that everyone's asleep." I commented.

"I can say the same about you." he retorted.

"Maybe you're both just cranky. Go to bed." said a voice. I knew that voice...but it couldn't be.

"Mori!" we both said at once, and Mori's face was revealed.

"Go to bed." he said again.

There was no arguing from either of us as Kyoya shut off his laptop, and I reclined my chair to go to sleep. I was rewarded with a pained groan from the person behind me, so I brought my seat back up, and slept.

**Out of Maria's POV**

A lot of people woke up about six hours later, and there was still six hours left in the trip. I student yawned, saying "This is a long trip."

"I know. I've never been on a plane for so long." replied another girl.

The only people still snoring their lives away would be Kyoya and Maria, since their bickering had carried on long after the warning from Mori.

_**1 hour after Mori's warning:**_

"I'm getting my seat switched!" Kyoya whispered heatedly.

"Says the person who was offering to buy me stuff a couple of hours ago." replied Maria.

"And I might take back that offer."

"But that isn't the gentlemanly thing to do." mused Maria.

"I'll show you gentlemanly." he muttered.

_**2 hours after Mori's warning:**_

Kyoya was fast asleep when he started to snore. Maria then proceeded to hit him with her traveling pillow.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked.

"You were moaning a girl's name in your sleep again." she lied.

Looking completely mortified, he put his traveler's pillow over his face, and proceeded to sleep.

_**3 hours after Mori's warning:**_

Kyoya was wide awake again because Maria moved in her sleep, and now she was stretching her feet out on his lap. He shoved her feet off, only to discover that Maria also kicked in her sleep. Easy to say, she managed to kick him in the place where no man should be kicked, and he yelped quietly.

_**4 hours after Mori's warning:**_

"She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes!" they sang simultaneously and extremely off key.

Don't even ask why they're singing. Just don't.

As they later progressed in the song to the part about her riding six white horses, Maria observed, "Damn, this song is dirty."

By that time Stephanie, who was on the trip as a chaperone, awoke from her sleep. She didn't even say anything; she just gave them a death glare. They instantly stopped singing, and tried their best to go back to sleep.

_**When everyone woke up and they were still asleep:**_

The host club knew from experience that it was a _very _bad idea to wake up Kyoya. The last time did not go well at all, and Kyoya was cranky and pissed for that entire day. They didn't want to relive that, because then people would truly know why they called him the shadow king.

They weren't sure whether they should wake Maria up or not since they had no experience in the matter. But Tamaki assumed it would turn ugly, so he left advised the group to leave her sleeping as well.

* * *

The last time Tamaki had been on a plane was years ago, on his flight to Japan. As he slept last night he kept having relentless dreams about that woman with the scar, whom he had never seen again. She was so _convincing_. She was so _kind_. Up to this day he still thinks she might have believed the lies she was telling him.

But then again, Tamaki has been known to always find the best in people; even when they weren't deserving of it. That was one of his several downfalls.

Meanwhile, Connor also had bad memories about the last time he'd been on a plane, headed to France. He felt odd, just like Maria, but he was better at hiding it. He remembers how happy he had been when they landed in France and checked into the Hilton Hotel and how he felt as if it was the start to a great vacation. How was he to know that his father would end up dead? How was he to know that his father's music would haunt him until the day he died? And that damn violin...

There was no way for Connor to predict his father's death. Absolutely none. It was destiny. One could even say it was written in stone.

At least that's what Connor tells himself when he can't sleep at night.

The twins, on the other hand, had a great night of sleep. Their last trip to France, around two years ago, had been splendid. They had stayed at the Hilton hotel, ran into many famous people that their rich parents wanted them to meet, and even had the freedom of wandering around by themselves.

Many things happened on that trip, some good and some bad, and it brought a smile to their faces.

* * *

Maria woke up with a stir. She looked to her left to see that Kyoya was still fast asleep. She looked at her watch to see that she had a whole six hours left. Groaning, she lifted her pillow, preparing to smack Kyoya awake when a note fell out of it.

Note:

**Dear Maria,**

**Your sixth and final clue. Go to the fifth floor of the hotel after the competition. Music will be erupting from three rooms: room 156, room 157, and room 158. First, it is your job to pick a room, and hopefully you will find me inside. You only get one guess. Then, it is your job to know who I am. **

**Sixth clue:**

**Each morning I appear**

**To lie at your feet,**

**All day I will follow**

**No matter how fast you run,**

**Yet I nearly perish**

**In the midday sun.**

**Good luck,**

**Anonymous**

So, this was her last chance. She had already figured out the answer to that other clue she got at the host club party: footsteps. Now it was just time to figure out this one. As soon as she arrived she knew she would be given her topic for the ITOM competition, then given only three hours to practice. How the hell were Tamaki and she supposed to figure everything out with such a tight schedule? Right after the competition, was this person nuts?

But she didn't dwell on her negative feelings. Because she was sure of the answer to the clue (she just had to double check with Tamaki) and she limited the identity of the killer tremendously.

Yet she still had a bad feeling about all of this.

* * *

**A/N**: YAY! I think I might have two or three more chapters planned out. We're really near to the end. But fear not, because I do have a sequel planned. The idea of this sequel will be kept a secret until the very end, though (:


	13. The First Betrayal

**Out of Maria's POV**

The whole plane landed in France as expected. They all remained intact, and several limos and buses greeted them outside of the airport. They were transported to their hotel.

When Maria and the rest of the class checked into the Hilton her and Connor made eye-contact, both looking rather disheveled. Really, what was the chance of them staying at the same hotel where their father was killed?

Maria was starting to believe that quote, "God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny." She really wasn't laughing this time.

She wondered if her father's ghost still lingered around the halls. She wondered if she could just walk up to said ghost, and just ask him who exactly killed him and be done with it.

She was able to think so heartlessly about her father's death because she managed to convince herself it was justified. Deep in her heart she knew she was wrong, but she limited herself to thinking with her head. That's what a brain was for, wasn't it? To make sure you were thinking straight when you're overwrought with emotion?

Sure, she may miss him terribly, but it didn't matter now. She grew accustomed to life without him and she was not about to through herself back into a life of grief and sorrow over the simple matter of staying at the same hotel he was killed in. Coincidence, that's all you can really call it.

* * *

After they checked in most students got settled while Tamaki and Maria had to rush to make themselves look presentable. They were supposed to attend a meeting being held in the hotel's ballroom where a bunch of musical competitors waited to receive instruction.

"Oh no, oh dear, oh my." Tamaki babbled on as he rushed into the hallway with one shoe on and his dress shirt unbuttoned.

"What's up?" asked Maria as she tried her best not to trip in her mother's high heels.

"I forgot how to tie my tie," he mumbled, "Did you hear that? I forgot!" he threw his hands in the air in frustration.

Maria chuckled evilly under her breath at watching Tamaki stress. Didn't he wear a tie every day? What made him forget now?

"Someone's nervous." announced Stephanie in a singsong voice as she passed in the hall.

He cast an evil glare in her direction. She simply smiled back and waved.

**Maria's POV**

In all honesty I knew how to tie a tie. I just figured I'd let him suffer a bit longer. Then Haruhi came prancing down the hallway, apparently "hearing about his predicament" and "offering up her services". I pouted as I watched Haruhi tie his tie and him looking like he was happier than ever. She just had to be so nice and ruin the fun.

As soon as she left to meet up with a couple of her friends to order room service, I looked at Tamaki and gave an all knowing smirk.

"Damn, you have it bad." I said.

We entered the elevator and I pressed the button to go to the first floor.

"Just because I'm not a _heartless _creature like you and I actually _own _feelings doesn't mean you have the right to tease me about it." he said.

"I have feelings! And I am by no means heartless." I said feeling a bit offended.

"Really?" he asked, mocking me, "Then who do _you _have a crush on?"

When I had no answer he had a triumphant smirk on.

"I'm right, your wrong." he declared.

I sat pouting in a corner. Just when I was about to argue his point the elevator door opened and he marched out. I followed him begrudgingly.

When we followed the signs that said, "International Tournament of Music" we found the ballroom. Two waitresses directed us to our table which was labeled: Japan. There were several tables labeled Japan amongst us, but none of them were near.

We were being served breakfast and soft classical music was playing in the background.

The neighboring table was labeled: France. Tamaki and I waved heartily and said hi to the two competitors. One was a girl with long, brunette hair that she kept in a pony tail high above her head. Her nose was pointy and she had elf-like features. She rolled her eyes and completely ignored us.

The other was a boy with dyed black hair that reached the back of his neck. One of his eyes were hidden under a curtain of black, while the other observed them curiously. He had a small nose piercing. He seemed a bit friendlier than his friend, but still didn't wave back.

"Maybe they can't understand us." I suggested.

But Tamaki seemed too preoccupied with a funny thought to really take notice of what I was saying.

"What are you giggling about?" I asked.

"Oh, my imagination is being overactive again, that's all." he said, but then he took one look at me, then glanced at the French table again. That's all it took to renew his laughter.

"Tell me!" I demanded, "Do I have something in my teeth?" I asked, rubbing at them self-consciously.

"No, no. Fine, I'll tell you." he said, wearing his usual goofy grin.

I waited for his answer attentively.

"Well, I just figured you and that French kid would make a good couple. That's it." he explained.

"No! Are you kidding me? He's not my type at all." I said, "But he's totally _your _type."

The smile dropped off of his face and he grumbled, "That's exactly why you're going to grow up old and alone."

I gasped, gearing myself up to make a really hurtful remark when I heard someone clear their throat rather loudly.

We gazed up to see a very old looking man, glaring at us evilly. It took us a while to realize that they were waiting for us to be silent in order to begin.

Extremely embarrassed, I sank down in my seat and avoided eye contact with every table.

* * *

He thanked us for our silence then launched into a long speech about how it was such an honor to be in the presence of such young talent. He was speaking in Italian but on a big screen behind him his words were being projected in several different languages.

He then got to the good stuff. He told us our topic was an emotional song, which I found rather stupid. Weren't _all _songs emotional? Then he got into specifics and said it had to be a song that held more than one emotion.

It couldn't just be lively and jubilant, nor could it be quiet and depressing. We had to find a unique mixture. We would be graded on the uniqueness of the song we picked, the way we interpret the emotion and make the song our own, and of course our basic musical skills.

When I found out we worked in teams I was filled with glee. At least I wouldn't have to verse Tamaki and his badass skills. Yeah, I know I would be pwned, but I'd never tell him that.

The old man then informed us how the winner would be chosen. It would be limited down to one pair per country, then we would have to perform one last time to convince them we deserve the title.

Then these two waitresses came out with this big ass timer. It was set to about five hours. I swear to you, the room was filled with the sound of several jaws dropping to the ground simultaneously. _Five hours_? If they dare start that timer right now...

And they did, they started the timer, despite the sound of my mind _clearly _telling them not to. The room was filled with cries of protest.

We were dismissed immediately afterwards and were told to meet up in that same room in five hours time. It was seven in the morning, so we would be due to meet there at noon. We would be expected to have a list of the song we would perform by then.

"Great. Just dandy!" I announced as I left the room in a hurry, Tamaki tailing me.

"And on top of that we have the case." he reminded me. It was then that something clicked in my brain. I completely forgot to tell him about the clue.

I told him to follow me to my hotel room. I searched the room until I found the note and I let him read it.

"I think the answer is— "

"Shadow." he finished for me. His expression was grim.

**Out of Maria's POV**

"You are aware of Kyoya's nickname, correct?" he asked, still in a wary voice.

"Yeah, the shadow king." she admitted, trying to sound sympathetic.

"The name fits so well, doesn't it?" asked Tamaki, while chuckling bitterly.

"Listen, Tamaki. It doesn't have to be him. There's still a whole bunch of clues that _don't _point to him. Um..." she rattled her brain for information.

"Piano, darkness, reflection, mirror, footsteps, shadow." Tamaki listed, still sounding extremely troubled.

"See! It can't be him. What does a piano have to do with..." something finally clicked in her mind, and looked at Tamaki with a newfound curiosity and horror.

"Tamaki, does—," she stopped to take a shaky breath, "Does Kyoya play the piano?" she asked.

He wanted to tell Maria from the very start, ever since the day they got that clue about the piano. It wasn't really the fact that she accused him that was troubling, it was the fact that he knew something she didn't. It was the fact that he was lying to her once again. It was the fact that the clue led to one of his best friends.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you from the start. It's just that..." his voice trailed off, "I-I didn't _want _it to be him."

"Because its not." said Maria in a determined voice, "It isn't."

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" he yelled suddenly, catching Maria off guard.

"What?"

"Don't you get it? Darkness? Reflection? Footsteps? Oh, and the absolute winner! Shadow. It's clear what he's talking about." said Tamaki in a snarky tone.

"And that would be?" she asked.

"He wants to be his father's heir to the fortune, his reflection, he wants to follow in his footsteps...but his brother's are in the way. Don't you get it? He wants to be his father's _shadow._" he explained.

A sudden realization hit Maria. She felt sick to her stomach, because in all truth, she didn't want it to be Kyoya either.

Sure, Tamaki and Maria may have spent a lot of their time suspecting others and persecuting them, but the realization that someone was actually going to be found guilty didn't really sink in until now. Sure, they didn't really think of it as fun and games up until now, but I guess you could say they weren't really taking themselves seriously.

I mean, who _would _take the pair seriously? They seemed like any other pair of high school students, with their heads stuck in the clouds...

It was similar to a life-sized game of clue. They were determined to arrive at an answer, and in a sick way, they were enjoying themselves.

But now that they had an answer, they felt less than satisfied.

Tamaki felt betrayed. It couldn't be. Kyoya was there from the very beginning, he was one of Tamaki's first friends when he got to Ouran. He helped him establish the host club. And under that refined exterior Tamaki knew there was a heart of gold.

_But it __**is **__him;_ he thought confidently, _it is. Don't let your emotions get in the way. Think of what they say at the agency. Cut all ties._

Maria, on the other hand, wasn't that easy to convince. She got the feeling that there was some hidden agenda behind it all. So while Tamaki accepted their conclusion as the final answer, Maria's mind kept subconsciously working on the case, determined to find something they missed, something they simply weren't seeing.

Yet a side of her was still saying, "You have your answer right in front of you. It's so obvious."

And that's how Maria knew it couldn't be Kyoya. It was _too _obvious.

As if right on cue, Kyoya just walked strolled right in, announcing, "Hey, Maria, if you're going to buy clothes you should get ready now. Haruhi and I were heading out and—." he stopped talking as he registered the emotional turmoil going on. He saw Tamaki glare ruthlessly in his direction.

"Is this a bad time? We can always go shopping later...I mean, I know you're busy and..."

"No! It's fine, really. I'll be ready in a minute." she assured him.

Kyoya nodded and left, telling her they would be waiting in the lobby.

As soon as they heard the door safely shut, Tamaki and Maria were arguing again.

"Are you _stupid_? Your going somewhere with a _murderer_. Not to mention, we only have five hours to practice. Nice one." reprimanded Tamaki.

"He can't pull anything. Haruhi will be there and—."

"Oh, no she won't! No daughter of mine will be—."

"News flash, she's _not your daughter._" Maria clarified.

He stopped talking for an instant, then with a renewed anger he announced, "I'm coming with you." completely ignoring Maria's last statement.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you'll need protection if things get nasty." he explained.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." she muttered as she began to take off her high-heels and went rummaging for more comfortable foot wear and clothing, "You don't have to leave, unless the idea of female nudity appalls you."

Not being sure exactly how to respond to that, he simply left as quickly as possible.

As he ran down the hall, his face flushed, he heard Maria laughing at the top of her lungs, shouting triumphantly, "I KNEW IT!"

* * *

**A/N: Poor Tamaki, they really should lay off the gay jokes a bit (: Story ending coming up in a couple chapters, as I already mentioned. Then SEQUEL (: Yeah, done now. Bye bye. Have a nice day/evening.**


	14. The First Truth

**Out of Maria's POV**

"We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz!" sang Haruhi, and Maria while skipping jubilantly off to the mall. Kyoya didn't really sing, but if you listened closely you could hear him humming. Tamaki trailed behind solemnly, and could be considered less musical in contrast. Stephanie, their chaperone, stayed behind the trio as well, walking next to Tamaki. It was nice to walk next to her old partner again. What she wouldn't do to go back to the old days…

He was in a sour mood so much lately that people were starting to notice. He was always suspicious, never quick to trust. He was in complete contrast to the way he used to be. The spell of ignorant bliss has been lifted at last.

"Cheer up." said Stephanie, wearing her usual bigger-than-life grin.

"What is there to be cheery about? I'm surrounded by a bunch of liars. Sometimes I wonder how you do it." he said.

"How I do what?" she questioned, head cocked to the side.

"How you're always so happy in times of trouble."

"Listen up, _little rookie_. The trick to being happy is not to have high-expectations." she explained, and when he still looked confused she elaborated a bit.

"I automatically expect everyone to be a scum-bag and I'm usually right!" she giggled, "So, I always get what I expect."

"That doesn't make you sad?" he questioned.

"It did… for a little while." she said thoughtfully.

* * *

Ahead of them Haruhi and Maria were having a conversation as well.

"What's wrong with Tamaki?" asked Haruhi.

"Um, you wouldn't understand." Maria said absent-mindedly, dismissing the conversation at once. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the disappointed look on Haruhi's face. She was so used to being kept in the loop on all-things –Tamaki and this new change and secrecy wasn't welcome.

They moved from store to store and Tamaki and Stephanie always was too far ahead or too far behind the rest of the group.

"Maybe after all of this mess is over you can become a teacher." he mused.

"I don't have the patience." said Stephanie, instantly dismissing the idea.

"But you enjoy it. And you care for your students." he insisted.

But they knew more than anyone that enjoying something didn't make it practical. And caring for someone didn't make them stay forever.

* * *

When ever Kyoya wasn't looking Tamaki would chuck stuff at his head. He missed most of the time, but caught him on his most recent try with a slice of pizza to the back of his skull.

Kyoya, who would have normally exploded at that moment, remained calm.

"Is there something you would like to talk about, Tamaki?" he said, in a sickeningly-sweet tone.

"There is, actually." Said Tamaki defiantly, "And I think we both know what that is."

Kyoya calmly took up a folded napkin and made an attempt to cleanse his hair of the tomato sauce. He sighed when he realized he was unsuccessful, and finally graced Tamaki with his calculating gaze.

"No, I don't think I know. Care to share?" replied Kyoya in an unusually calm voice that seemed rather ordinary to the normal listener.

But Maria knew better. She knew what a false tone sounded like. She knew what it was like to fake emotion. She knew how it sounded when someone hid themselves from the world.

And to her highly trained ears, it sounded unusually sad.

"Are you having fun pretending like nothing's wrong? We both know the truth." Tamaki said, staring Kyoya down in the face and poking an accusatory finger at his chest. Kyoya flinched.

"Tamaki, lay off, will you?" said Maria in a quiet voice, which was entirely unlike her.

"No! I don't think I will. I'm tired of pretending like this fool was even a worthy friend to me. He's always hiding who he really was. But now I know who he _really _is. And he just can't handle it." Tamaki rambled on, sounding completely unlike himself.

Stephanie was off shopping for shoes, completely missing the display.

Haruhi joined them at the food court table with a tray of fries.

"Hey, guys. If I get French fries in France aren't they just fries? I called Kaoru to ask and he didn't know either, so he googled it and…" she asked, and then looked around at the tense faces, "What's going on?"

"What would you do if I told everyone who you really are? What would sweet little Haruhi do when she found out?" taunted Tamaki.

"I don't know what your talking about." he took a shaky breath.

"You're ruining it. You're throwing everything out the window just for your own sake."

"Tamaki…" Kyoya trailed off.

"No, you listen to me _for once_. You can't do this to yourself again. You can't do this to _me_. Do you honestly think it's going to solve all of your problems?" Tamaki lectured.

_What are they talking about? Tamaki sounds worried. _Thought Maria.

"What I choose to do is none of your business." said Kyoya in a small voice, and for the first time in his life he doubted his own words.

"I'm going to tell everyone…" Tamaki started.

"Let them all find out!" Kyoya yelled.

_Dammit_, he thought, _I can't be like this. I can't __**feel **__like this. Not again._

The table was silent. Maria's mind, although taking heed of everything that was going on, was still stuck on Kyoya's last statement. _Let them all find out! _That couldn't have been a confession? He wouldn't throw it out there so _blatantly._ No, he must be talking about something else.

Find out what? Find out…

As Kyoya's words finally sunk in, she stared Tamaki down.

"What _exactly _are you guys talking about?" Maria asked, knowing that somehow the conversation had nothing to do with murder accusations.

No one answered. Kyoya simply said, "I think I'll go for a little walk." He left.

_Let them all find out!_ He said. And where had Maria seen that exact same look before?

It took that one second to realize something that it had taken others _years _to fully register.

She knew how he felt at that moment. She used to look in the mirror and see in herself what she saw in Kyoya now. It was that same dangerous desire to _end _it. To end her.

She got up from the table instantly, rushing after him, knowing she was wasting time for the competition and not really giving a damn.

After tailing him for a good five minutes he finally decided to slow down and stop.

He was running his fingers through his hair furiously and mumbling to himself, "Oh God. My life is turning into a life-time movie. A bad one at that."

He turned around to acknowledge her presence for the first time and said with a plastic smile, "Is there something I can do to help you, Ms. Standford?"

Maria couldn't help but smile. "Why can't I help you for once?"

He looked reluctant about the prospect but he didn't completely dismiss the idea.

"Come on, talk to me. You have problems. Think of me as your shrink." said Maria, trying to be encouraging.

"I highly doubt you have a PH.D in psychology, Maria."

"I'm working on it. I'm your therapist-in-training." she retorted.

"As if I couldn't afford a real one." Kyoya mused.

"Fuck dude! Shut up and explain what's wrong." she was getting frustrated now.

"I can't do both." he clarified, eyebrows raised.

They both stared at each other in silence. Maria knew what he was doing. He was avoiding talking about his feelings. He was avoiding having any connection to another human being. And with her years of disappointment in others she couldn't quite blame him.

"Look, this is very unusual for me. I don't usually listen to the feelings of others." explained Maria.

"And I, Ms. Standford, don't usually _have _feelings." he interjected.

"I'm open to new experiences if you are."

He contemplated her statement for a minute, wondering if she was for real. She was so persistent. Why was she like that? What made her care so much? And why was he feeling compelled to tell her everything? He remembered when he told Tamaki knew the truth. And how did that happen again?

_Oh yeah_, Kyoya remembered, _because he cared just as much._

He saw all the compassion and consideration and goofiness and silliness and utter recklessness and stupidity as well as a swelling love for all people that made Tamaki who he was, and all of it seemed to be channeled into this girl. She could almost be considered his spiritual doppelganger.

And that's finally what convinced him in the end.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But tell me to stop if the story gets too boring." he finally gave in. And it was a relief.

"Trust me, I don't think your life story _can _be boring, Kyo."

**Maria's POV**

It only took ten minutes of my time. But I finally got him. I knew the secret behind the shadow king.

"So you found out you had bipolar disorder a month before you met Tamaki?" I clarified.

"Precisely."

It explained everything. It explained why he was always so careful. Why he was so polite. Why he remained hidden, showing little emotion because the moment he started to feel, he wouldn't be able to control the outcome. And not having control was the one thing he feared the most.

Yet I knew there was something hidden under even _that_. There was more to the story. Another chapter. Another page that had been so cleverly evaded. And I knew what came next.

"And what did you do right after you found out?"

He looked at me as if I just read his mind. He cleared his throat and as if he was telling me how much sugar he liked in his coffee he said, "I tried to kill myself."

Knowing he wouldn't take it well I hid my worry by simply saying, "Oh. Thanks for clearing that up." Yet on the inside I was getting ready to kill this guy. Why would he make everyone worry like that?

"You think I'm a freak." he mumbled. He just didn't get it, did he?

"I thought you were a freak before this. And plus, I'm an even bigger freak. I tried to go parachuting off my roof with a plastic bag. The baby sitter had to put a trampoline under me so I wouldn't die." I told him.

"That's not being a freak…" he started gloomily, "That's being an _ass_."

**Out of Maria's POV**

They were both grinning now, which rarely happened. When one was happy the other was sad. When one was annoyed the other was having the time of their life. But now, as short as this moment was, they finally had a time of shared happiness.

It was then that her phone rang, and Connor was calling.

"Where are you guys? Ms. Clark's freaking out because half of her group is missing. What I tell you about hanging out with that scary dude? Don't you and the gay kid have a competition to go dominate?" he harped on and on.

She gave a weak laugh as she said, "They all have names, you know. And believe it or not we didn't even pick a song yet. But being the considerate brother you are, your going to help me, am I right?"

"Nope. I never thought of that." he put down his phone for a second and in a muffled voice I heard, "Hey, Yuri. Can I borrow your laptop? No, I'm not going to hack your facebook. Not after the nasty bruise you gave me last time."

**Maria's POV**

I hung up the phone and Kyoya looked at his watch. He started walking back to the food court and I followed. It was odd what had just occurred and something told me he was going to pretend as if it never happened. That was fine with me.

I knew he dreaded having to face Tamaki, considering he was walking slower than usual.

At least I finally made sense of how Tamaki felt. When Kyoya told me of his suicidal tendency I felt a strong urge to yell as well. I felt a strong urge to throttle him. If he were to ever make me worry like that again…

It was never about the murder mystery. In Tamaki's list, Kyoya was never a suspect in the first place.

When we got back Stephanie, Tamaki and Haruhi were in deep conversation. They were probably talking about something important. No, wait a minute. What?

"So apparently they _do _call them fries here." she explained while Tamaki and Stephanie sat there in awe.

When they saw us Tamaki immediately shot up out of his chair and did something that made Kyoya turn tomatoe red from embarrassment. He gave him a Big. Fat. Hug.

"I'm so sorry I was being so mean and I'll never be like that again, I swear! And then you ran off and I thought 'Oh, great, he hates me now.' and I couldn't live with the thought! And then my imagination ran amuck and I thought, 'What if he comes back with a _new _best friend'. Then I started comprising an eleven stage plan on how to get rid of that new best friend for good because I'm your only best friend, Kyoya! We're bffls! Then…" Tamaki kept talking really fast that it was hard to catch a thing he was saying. Kyoya was slowly shifting from red to blue.

"You're choking him." Haruhi informed.

Tamaki let go instantly and Kyoya's glasses were askew, his clothes were wrinkled, and his hair was disheveled.

"I'll forgive you if you promise to never touch me again."

* * *

"You know, I've always wanted a really fat kid, and by fat I don't mean chunky I mean genuinely obese, to do the subway commercials. He would have a mouth full of lettuce and he'd be like 'Subway, Eat Fresh" But no one would hear what he's saying because his mouth is so full" I stopped talking to face Tamaki, "Are you even listening?"

"Kid, we're dead. We're not even dead. We're worse. We're vampires." said Tamaki since we arrived at the hotel with one hour left before show time.

"I can do the most amazing Edward Cullen impression. Because I'm just that good-looking." I replied.

"I would laugh at that but I'm to busy having a mini-spazz attack." he replied, while laying face-down on the floor.

"Does lying on the floor calm your nerves?" I questioned.

"No. I'm just so nervous that I forgot how to stand." he explained as new hotel guests entered the lobby and gingerly stepped over my limp body.

"I would say something, but I think you've suffered enough for one day."

Just then Connor went fumbling head first out of the elevator, making everyone in the lobby do a three-sixty to find out what all the commotion was about.

When ever he got this excited it was usually something really bad for me. So naturally I was worried. Can anyone say Ronald the hermit crab?

"I found this song and it's called 'Songs from A Secret Garden' by Secret Garden. I bawled like a baby."

"So you want us to make the judges cry?" I asked.

"Hell yeah, it's why I picked it. Now you two shut up and listen." he said, while using Yuri's laptop to pull up the song.

While listening I realized it was pretty good, but Tamaki and I had some tricks up our sleeve that could make it even better.

"You've done well, young one." I said while patting Connor on the head.

He raised an eyebrow at me while saying, "Look who's confident. Don't forget, just two years ago _you _were taking lessons from _me_."

"Okay, this whole sibling debacle is really adorable but we only have fifty-three minutes before the competition starts." said Tamaki while dragging her to the practice room that was set up for them.

* * *

For some reason gazing at my violin is all it took for things to really set in.

"Shit." I said while slumping in the nearest chair.

"That's what I've been saying for this whole time."

"We're performing in front of a shitload of people with less than an hour worth of practice." I stated, as if he didn't already know.

He started laughing as he said, "And to make matters worse we're two teenagers who are expected to solve a murder mystery to avenge the death of your father and to protect our friends."

"I'm pretty sure I read that on the back of a book once." I said, laughing as well.

For a second it was as if all of it was a dream. I was in another realm where I would soon wake up and discover there was no such thing as a host club, and I was at home with my father, and there was no such murder mystery hanging over my head. If it all were a dream it would be such a relief. I would never have to look back at this ever again.

But for some reason while sitting there laughing with Tamaki at this surreal situation, I thought of how sad I would be if it really was just an illusion. Another lie.

* * *

**A/N**: Dudes and dudettes, this may have been an unexciting chapter but I thought I'd just take the time to delve into each character's feelings a bit more. *cough* _Secretly just an excuse for putting you all to sleep_ *cough*. I honestly think from this point on that there will only be two more chapters, three tops. Then we move on to the sequel :D.

P.S. All songs by Secret Garden are freaking amazing. Go check it out if you have the time.


	15. The First Shadow

**Maria's POV**

I was finally ushered on stage. My clammy fingers grasped Tamaki's hand as we took one final bow in unison. The crowds' individual cheers integrated to create one loud, deafening buzz. Camera flashes went off everywhere, blinding me. The click of the cameras blended in with the roar of the crowd to create a very unnerving kind of atmosphere. Someone threw a bouquet of flowers on stage.

Tamaki turned his victorious gaze from the crowd to face me. He smiled as he said something that couldn't be heard over the buzz.

Did I read his lips wrong? Did he just say "run"?

It was that moment of hesitation that cost me everything. A bang was heard over the noise. A single, defiant sound in the world of euphoria.

Then he fell. The smile was still on his face as he fell backwards, onto the stage with a loud thud.

The cheers could have turned to screams; I wouldn't really know. All I could focus on were those lifeless eyes.

Then I looked to the crowd again. There stood a single person in a mask, holding up a their hands. I leaned closer, trying to find some significance in this gesture and…

I woke up with a start. I instantly sprang out of my chair as a surveyed my surroundings. Where was I? Where was Tamaki?

"Are you okay? Sorry for waking you up but I think we should practice one more time before heading on stage. I've been trying to wake you up for quite a while." said a voice. I turned around to see a completely worried looking, yet otherwise completely healthy Tamaki.

It was all coming back to me. We worked on the music until our hands were sore. Then we got ready. And somewhere down the line I fell asleep…

"How'd I get backstage?" I asked.

"Mori carried you. I tried and well, I sort of—"

I looked down to see a bruise on my leg.

"—dropped you." he finished.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Mori and Honey, being the bad-asses they are, were hired to guard contestants back stage. They kept the reporters at bay and whenever anyone posed as a threat Honey would deliver a swift kick to both of their shins, rendering them temporarily crippled.

A particularly persistent reporter kept asking them questions.

"So how long have you guys been friends with Tamaki Suoh?" he said, pushing a recorder into Mori's face.

"A while." was Mori's short reply.

"And what do you guys think about this newcomer, Maria Standford?"

"She's nice." he replied again.

"She's awesome! And she's the fastest cake-eater I know!" beamed Honey.

The reporter, slightly afraid of Mori and wondering what cake had to do with anything, slowly backed away.

* * *

Tamaki and Maria stayed silent, hoping to catch a bit of their competitors' performances so they would at least know what they're dealing with.

There were two more performances to go before they went onstage. Trying to calm themselves they let their minds wander.

Tamaki thought of how proud his mom would be, and how he might have finally _made _his grandma proud. Maybe he would finally belong to the family, and his grandma would take him in with open arms and a wide smile that was forever absent from her face.

_Maybe Maman is here in the crowd. Maybe she somehow heard, somehow found out_, he thought irrationally. He would play tonight as if his mom were in the crowd, cheering him on.

As if reading his mind Maria turned to him and said, "She would be so proud."

They heard clapping, marking the end of another performance. One more to go.

* * *

Mori and Honey still stood as guard, keeping their eyes peeled for intruders. A very frantic looking woman went running right past them with Connor tailing her.

He flashed an apologetic smile before darting past them and heading backstage too.

Maria was grabbed into a bear hug, the woman squeezing the life out of her.

"I'm so proud of you. I flew here just to see you. My little baby, competing _internationally._"

"Thanks mom, I'm glad you're here." mumbled Maria who was being smothered.

"And this is Tamaki Suoh! Your family is a very valuable contributor to the company I work for. I'm glad to finally meet you." said her mom, shaking hands with him.

"The pleasure's all mine." he said automatically.

"Connor and I will go join the audience with your host club friends. Knock 'em dead!" she started to scurry off but before doing so she turned back around, "And Maria, button that thing up, you look like a hoochy."

"Bye Mom!" she said rather loudly, while rushing her out and trying her best to ignore Connor's snickering.

Suppressing a laugh himself Tamaki said, "You have such a nice family." Although Maria didn't notice, his tone hinted a little jealousy. No one came to visit him backstage. Where was his father? Oh, even he could answer that. Probably in another meeting.

Clapping. Oh no. It was time. He started to search frantically for anyone, anyone at all.

Finally giving up he sighed and started to head onstage. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

It was Stephanie. And the whole host club. Honey and Mori even abandoned their posts to see him off.

"Good luck, squirt. Just try not to suck too bad, alright?" said Stephanie.

With a nod he headed out onstage with a newfound glory. He looked out to the huge crowd, and rather than looking intimidating it looked warm and welcoming.

When the laughter died down he gave a side-look to Maria. She gave him the thumbs up and then started into what could have been one of their best performances.

**Maria's POV**

So we totally screwed ourselves over. One hour after the competition we found out we came in second among the Japanese competitors. But the ones who came first couldn't compete because of hand injury. So by default, we were first and representing Japan in the final round. It would take place tomorrow.

"We won by default. That's like saying we're not good enough but we're all they've got." whined Tamaki

"No, it's like saying we suck ass." I clarified.

But there was no time to feel bad. We still had something to do. And even Tamaki was well aware as he bid Haruhi farewell and joined me in the act of skipping our own celebration party.

As we finally got out of earshot he turned to me and said, "So, what's the plan?"

"What plan?"

"You know, the plan that you chose to hide from me until the last minute?" he questioned.

"Nope. I don't have one of those." I assured him, "You?"

"Not at all." he answered.

"That's good," I responded off-handedly, grabbing the crumpled up clue and scanning it over.

**Dear Maria,**

**Your sixth and final clue. Go to the fifth floor of the hotel after the competition. Music will be erupting from three rooms: room 156, room 157, and room 158. First, it is your job to pick a room, and hopefully you will find me inside. You only get one guess. Then, it is your job to know who I am. **

**Sixth clue:**

**Each morning I appear**

**To lie at your feet,**

**All day I will follow**

**No matter how fast you run,**

**Yet I nearly perish**

**In the midday sun.**

**Good luck,**

**Anonymous**

"So, we both agree that we can easily rule out you or me." he said.

"No, your at the top of my suspect list." I commented while heading towards the hallway that contained rooms 156, 157, and 158.

"You're very ungrateful, you know that?" he said, eyes narrowed.

"So my mother tells me." I replied, trying to formulate some sort of plan. I remembered the dream I had, and I hoped that it would stay just that, a dream.

"Hey, let's work on the room numbers. The sum of the digits of the first one equals twelve, which seems highly irrelevant. Maybe the numbers in a specific order mean something significant?" he questioned as we got nearer to the doors.

"Do you hear that?" I mumble-whispered, making my question almost intelligible.

"What?"

"Shhhhh!"

**Out of Maria's POV**

It was music. Playing very softly. The familiar, nurturing sound of the piano.

"Vitali Chaconne." the two both mumbled instantaneously, recognizing the familiar piece at once.

"Wasn't the first clue piano?" questioned Tamaki.

And as the realization hit them a newfound determination started pounding through their veins.

"Quick, list all the clues!" he demanded.

"Uhhh…umm…piano, darkness…ummm…" she trailed off.

"Reflection, mirror, footsteps…" he continued.

"Shadow." they both finished at the same time.

That was at least one clue out of the way. They put their ears to each door until they determined where the music sounded the loudest.

"Okay, it's coming out of room 157. What do we do, knock?" Maria questioned.

But she was too slow for Tamaki, for he was already banging on the door, yelling, "Helloooo. Come out; come out, wherever you are!"

He went to bang on it again but his hand met the air; the door had swung open automatically.

"Well that works." he said and as he went to stroll in Maria stopped him.

"Are you stupid? We can't just waltz in!" she hissed.

"Then what are we supposed to do, limber up first?" he asked, recalling a movie he recently watched.

"Well, no, but, we should have some sort of plan, don't you think?" she questioned.

"I hate to break it to you, but we never really had a plan from the start, did we?"

She pondered his words. It was true. They never had a sure-fire plan. But still, the idea of rushing into a possibly fatal situation with no plan seemed tactless.

"We've been winging it from the start. Would it kill you to just trust me, and wing it one more time?" he questioned.

"Yes. It probably will," she started, "But life sucks anyway."

And with that they both entered the hotel room together.

**Maria's POV**

Damn. No one was here. Really?

Tamaki was already busily searching under the bed, hoping they didn't pick the wrong room. Maria didn't have the heart to tell him that no one could possibly fit under there.

"Yoo-hoo! Mr. Killer-person! We have arrived!" I yelled as a last attempt.

And just like that a person in a mask swooped forward, apparently weaponless. The masked figure made their way behind a table of sorts.

When Tamaki realized this person was wearing a mask that looked similar to his he nearly pissed his pants.

"He's wearing a mask." Tamaki whispered.

"So?" I asked.

"I think that's my mask." Tamaki assured her.

"And when did the mask go missing?" I questioned, not really caring.

"Right after that first meeting we had in the closet." he whispered.

"Oh, you mean that meeting where you came out of the closet?" I asked.

"What?"

And that's when the masked person started to speak.

"You will have until midnight to guess who I am." the person spoke, but their voice was obviously being altered.

Oh, yeah. Because I totally forgot.

**Out of Maria's POV**

When the two realized that the clues didn't really point to a person at all, they were kind of pissed.

"There's a mirror over there." Tamaki mentioned.

That's when Maria started to peace everything together. Slowly, but surely, it started to make sense.

She listed the clues under her breath when she noticed one great flaw. There was something the killer said that just didn't add up. Whether this flaw was intentional or not, it would help her.

Ever since they entered the room she was subconsciously taking **footsteps **towards the mirror. Within this **mirror **she saw a **reflection**. The killer, sitting behind a table, had something on his lap. Something that would have never been visible had it not been for the mirror.

And when she took another look she saw it was an index card. What was on that index card assured her suspicion.

"Clue Number 7" was what it said. Yes, that's right. The killer said there would be seven clues, but only gave six. Sure enough, the seventh must have been the answer.

Not having time to discuss her findings with Tamaki, she simply said boldly, "Hand over the card!"

Then she instantly regretted it. She simply forgot that she wasn't a ninja.

Tamaki turned to her a glare that said, "What the hell?"

The killer did not move and she knew she had no other choice.

She charged towards the killer, knowing her act could have been suicide. But has that ever stopped her before?

Starting to catch on, Tamaki went forward to help as well. It was then that they heard a familiar sound. A bullet just sailed through the air, missing Tamaki by a centimeter.

After getting over the initial shock, Tamaki glanced around. He was sure that the killer had no weapon. So where did that…

"It seems you have forgotten one of the clues. Wherever the original is, there is always a **shadow**." said the killer. And with that a figure went sailing through the air, landing on Tamaki's abdomen. The breath was instantly knocked out of him as they looked up at the missing link, the second person that no one anticipated.

"Hello," the figure smiled a mocking smile, "Little rookie."

* * *

**A/N**: I have way to much fun writing this. But it's going to be over soon, next chapter is most likely the last :(...But then there's the SEQUEL. I already have the name. It shall be called: Secret Motives. When this story is over, keep a look out for it :'3. Or not. The choice is yours.


	16. The First Alibi

Now I was certain that the universe had been drastically altered. Or maybe my eye site has been drastically altered. After all, Connor _did _say to stop reading in bad lighting.

You know those double takes? When people don't believe their eyes so they look twice? Well, I did an octuple take. If that makes sense. All I know is that my neck is killing me.

Because certainly, it couldn't have been Stephanie Clark standing there. And I'm pretty sure she wasn't getting ready to cut off all breathing passages from my blonde haired classmate/spy friend. Because that would be unfortunate.

And entertaining.

So, here I am, the heroine of the story (a fact that many people might argue), stuck in an impossible situation, not quite sure where to turn. I mean, I had two options. I could abandon Tamaki, run full speed out of the door, and hope he makes it through the night. Or I could come up with some excellent plan, which will probably fail anyway. In which case I'll promptly return back to option one.

But…you guys probably don't care about my thinking process. You most likely want to find out what's going on.

"I did_ not_ see that one coming." muttered Tamaki, face first into the floor.

"You never do." I sighed.

**Out of Maria's POV**

Now Stephanie and the killer exchanged confused looks, not quite sure why Tamaki and Maria were so calm. Why weren't they spazzing out, like we all predicted they would be doing?

This is all due to one key factor that determines the difference between victory and failure: alcohol consumption.

* * *

Before leaving their victory party they grabbed a glass of champagne or two. Or eight.

"Dude, I don't think that was good idea."

"Hogwash!" Tamaki cried, "I feel completely fine. In fact, observe while I say the alphabet whilst walking in a straight line."

And he did say it correctly, after his tenth try.

Lucky for the school, alcohol doesn't affect their deductive reasoning skills.

Not that much, anyway.

* * *

"Why are you on the floor?" Maria asked.

"Because I was attacked, and the floor is the safest place at the moment." he explained. And Maria nodded, because in her buzzed brain it made perfect sense.

Then Tamaki rose from the ground, and surveyed the room.

"H-Hey! When did you get here, Stephanie? Grab a seat." said Tamaki, constructing a make shift chair out of some pillows.

Stephanie gazed at him, and waved her gun around, as if that would make a difference in his sanity.

A flicker of realization was displayed on Tamaki's face as he registered what the object really was. Disgusted he stumbled backwards then proceeded to jump into the killer's arms and scream like a girl.

The masked person dropped him.

Tamaki's mind slowly started to piece things together.

"So, you…and the killer…and…ohhhhhhh!" he exclaimed.

Maria just watched the scene, feeling every bit as drunk as Tamaki was acting.

The killer wasn't sure how to respond to the situation. How was he supposed to know that Tamaki and Maria would go _binge drinking_ right before their task?

Did they even solve the clues? Or were the students of Ouran in serious danger?

And then Tamaki tried to walk towards the killer, looking seriously upset.

"You know, I don't like you very much. You're a very mean person." Tamaki stood an inch away from the masked person. Then he started giggling maniacally, and punched the killer square in the jaw.

The killer went sprawling. As soon as the killer recovered their next course of action was to try to kick Tamaki in the stomach. Maria was ready to leap into action but then Stephanie aimed her gun, keeping Maria in place.

"Ouch." Tamaki said, as he got up and brushed it off. He went to punch the killer one more time, but the killer evaded the attack, causing Tamaki's fist to connect with the light switch, permanently damaging it.

The room was instantly drowned in darkness—"Hahahaha! The light went bye bye!"—and that's when the killer started to realize their plan.

In all the confusion Maria wasn't cornered by Stephanie any more, and she went searching for the seventh clue.

"They're not really drunk!" cried the killer in their disguised voice.

"Aw, you caught us." said Maria in mock-disappointment while Tamaki yelled, "Duh!"

Truth being told, they were indeed _very _drunk. And up to this day, no one is quite sure if they had planned this according to the clue: **darkness**, or if this was all just one big accident in their favor.

Either way, Maria managed to find the card while the killer and Stephanie tried to figure out how to turn the light on.

"And you are…" she declared while glaring at the seventh, only to see…

Nothing. It was too dark to read.

**Maria's POV**

I feel really stupid. Not even the normal type of stupid, either. It's the type of stupid that makes you wonder if you suffered brain trauma at some point in your childhood.

Tamaki seemed to understand the silence.

"You can't read it, can you?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

And now it was Stephanie's turn to laugh.

**Out of Maria's POV**

And a new found rage filled up Tamaki immediately. The laugh he used to find so charming now sounded like a warped cackle. The sound added to his feeling of betrayal and his emotions took his body up in storm, as he found himself alone in the darkness.

"Where are you?" he whispered quietly. The darkness was always so scary to him. Even as a child he would never understand why some creatures preferred to lurk in the darkness rather than to live in the light. He didn't understand that crimes—stealing, hurting, _killing—_were things that shouldn't be done in the light.

But now he understood why his fear of things that go bump in the night was so rational. Because although it may not be the boogey man lurking in your closet, it could be something worse, by far.

"Where are you?" he asked again, voice nearing hysterics, like a small-child in un-charted land.

"I'm right here." Stephanie answered nonchalantly, revealing nothing. Nothing at all.

He knew the question he really wanted to ask.

_Who are you? And what have you done with Stephanie?_

* * *

And Maria couldn't help but feel a little edgy too.

"Tamaki, calm down." she told the darkness, hoping somehow that he could hear her behind the screen of anger; the screen of confusion.

He let out a cry of frustration, because in front of him was darkness. And behind him was darkness. No more. No less.

As Maria's hands searched for an alternative light switch, she grazed someone's hand. As the hand grasped back she was certain it was Tamaki's. She tightened her grasp.

Maria started feeling around for the doorknob with her other hand, thinking it's not too late to make a run for it and call the police when her hand took hold of something.

She couldn't believe what she was holding. She picked it up and messed around with it until she had it figured out.

And with an inaudible "ding" the light went on. In her hand was a flashlight.

She didn't anticipate that the light would reveal her location, as two other figures turned and walked towards her. The killer grabbed hold of her and simply said, "Drop the flashlight." But he wasn't fast enough. She had already seen the words that she shouldn't have seen. And the knowledge wasn't worth it.

* * *

"Let go of me!" she cried viciously, but the killer didn't. It wasn't official. Not until she said the name. Not until she recited the last clue outloud.

"I hate you! I hate you!" she punched and kicked and clawed.

This caught the killer by storm. She did know after all. The challenge was completed. And with that, he let go of her.

And she cried. Tears were streaming down her face as she shrieked words of hatred and insanity at the killer. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking, why won't they stay still? And she felt this weird urge to throw up. Was the alcohol finally kicking in?

"You murderer!" she yelled as if the thought just occurred to her; as if adding a face to the name made it real.

Yet she couldn't help but feel the ghost of victory, of what would have been if the killer was anyone else but who they really were.

But it was too late for that. Far too late.

And somehow the darkness was not a barrier anymore when she found a way to face the killer. They stared at each other, eye to eye, although each only saw a vast sea of nothingness before them.

Years of hatred bubbled up at that moment as she yelled at the killer. She yelled four simple words that would change everything.

"I hate you, Connor!"

* * *

Connor let out a sigh of, well, relief. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up this charade. Leading a double life was…difficult to say the least. It wore down on the mind, body, and soul. But then again, so did murder.

He let out a very dry, senseless laugh.

There was so much poor Maria didn't know. So much that needed to be said. But it was nearly impossible to explain anything to a little sister that "hated you" so to speak.

And for every name she called him he nodded in understanding. He knew it was all true. He guessed it would be called karma. Everything came back around in the end.

He wasn't like him. "Him" being his father. Although he would be doomed to share a love of music with the man; although he had been mistaken for him in the streets, and called "the doppelganger" of the great man, he wasn't him.

For who would want to kill their own child?

Connor listened intently at the angry girl before him, remembering the care-free little girl she used to be, trying to recall how the hell he fell so far.

Who would?

**Maria's POV**

Have you ever been so blinded by hatred to the point where the feeling of anger laced every fiber of your being? Have you ever hated some one so much to the point where it made you tired to hate?

Well, you haven't experienced true hatred until then.

But I did grow tired. And the major headache coming on from my unfortunate champagne binge wasn't helping. (I'm a light weight, and I've never tried alcohol previous to that incident. I don't get out much.)

And after I was done yelling, and I paused to get a grip, I found that I couldn't. I took several breaths of air, hoping to calm my nerves down, yet it didn't work. Air didn't work anymore. And neither did rationality.

I shone the light towards Tamaki for guidance. He was worse off then I was. He had a very blank expression on his face as he stared. And stared. And stared. If I didn't see his chest gently moving up and down, I would have thought him to be dead.

What a terrible thought _that _is.

Here I am. And there was Connor. Stephanie was observing it all, more like a specter than anything else. I was starting to doubt if she was real.

But then again, who's to say any of this was real? What if this all was some elaborate dream? God, if it was, I don't know what I'd do.

I simply don't know.

**Out of Maria's POV**

"He deserved it, you know." were the words Connor said to fill up the silence.

"What?" Maria said, her voice hoarse from all the pointless yelling.

"Dad. He deserved it."

A cold sort of pain shot through Maria just now. It was a very calm sort of anger. One that didn't require yelling. Or crying. One that only required a sacrifice of your sanity.

And the sad part was she wasn't sure who it was directed towards.

"He tried to kill us, you know. Both of us." Connor explained. Maria already knew. She stopped caring.

Cough. Then more silence.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

A choked sound from Maria's throat.

"You can't stay silent forever." he reasoned.

But oh, she could.

"Don't you at least want to know why?"

This was the question she feared the most.

She nodded. Then she realized he couldn't see her. Couldn't someone turn on a damn light?

And almost as if Maria asked the question out loud, Stephanie guided her way towards the door. She turned towards the vacant hallway (no one ever got a room on the third floor) and returned with a lamp, along with some emergency flashlights.

"In case blondie over here decides to take out the light again." she explains.

**Maria's POV**

I looked at the flashlight in my hand, as well as the three Stephanie had scavenged. They matched.

When she noticed I made the connection she gave a little wink. I was almost certain now. She tried to help us.

Not wanting to give away her cover, I don't say a thing. But I'm given a little boost of confidence. It was three against one all along. Well, make that two and a half. Let's not give Tamaki _too _much credit.

I look to the familiar face in front of me. Wow, the resemblance to Dad was more than frightening. He motioned for me to take a seat next to him. He was going to explain everything.

I find a chair and on the opposite side of the room, sitting as far away from him as possible.

**Our of Maria's POV**

Kyoya was now looking desperately for the two victors. He had helped to arrange the party and they didn't even care enough to stay and enjoy it. All they did was chug down some liquor and ditch the joint

Maria's mom was too far gone to be of any help. It must run in the family.

"More cake for me!" cheered Honey, not even showing any signs of worry.

Was it just Kyoya's eyes fooling him or was Mori taking a nap in the middle of the event?

And the twins sure as hell didn't notice. They barely took notice since they were busy wreaking havoc all over the place.

Why were all the spoons gone? The twins.

Why was everyone at table one currently covered from head to toe with pudding? The twins.

Why were there two identical people laughing maniacally as they chucked deserts at unsuspecting bystanders with silver utensils? All together now!

_The twins. _

"Where are Tamaki and Maria?" Haruhi asked the winning question.

Kyoya let out a sigh of relief.

"At least I'm not _completely _surrounded by buffoons." he said.

And as if to make matters worse, he was almost certain that he heard a gunshot a couple of seconds ago. No one else seemed to notice. But then again, Kyoya often noticed things that others didn't.

"Haruhi, would you mind helping me find those two _idiots_" he insulted them with a misplaced fondness, "and reeling them back in before everyone notices their missing?"

She sighed. It was always her.

"Fine, I guess I have nothing better to do." She relied as they walked towards the exit of the banquet hall.

_**

* * *

**_

A/N:

Sorry if there are any inconsistencies. I didn't really go over it too much :D. hope u liked it. or even if you didnt, thanks for reading.

P.S. Only one more chapter. I swear. Maybe two at MOST if it gets too long. Then hello, sequel. xD. But dnt hold me too that.'

It could be twenty more. :3. I'm the writer.


	17. The First Test

**Out of Maria's POV**

The Connor everyone knew in loved was different from the Connor Maria stared at now. He was somehow marred; flawed in the sense that there was something missing. Something essential. Something he had that everyone else envied.

But no one could put their finger on it. Maybe no one ever would.

* * *

Stephanie remembered when she was assigned to this case. Her superior carefully stated:

"I need you to make sure Connor doesn't waver in duty. You need to make sure he stays on task. And you need to make sure Tamaki stays clueless."

She was certain she wouldn't have much trouble with the last part. And the task was so easy it made her sick. Why was it so easy to mess up a life, yet it was so hard to put it back together?

But now the truth would be exposed, and everyone would be revealed, and the offer would be made. No one would remain the same.

And that might be for the best. Even Stephanie can admit there needed to be a change.

Maria would no longer live in ignorance.

Tamaki would no longer live in denial.

Connor would no longer live with regret.

And for Stephanie, there was the biggest pay-off of all.

She'd move up a level, she'd be the superior to her superior. And she can leave her old life behind.

That's all that mattered in the end.

* * *

Tamaki was as eager to crack the secret as anyone else in the room. He had heard of the Standford family from his early days in the agency.

"Did you hear what happened to that Standford guy?"

"I wonder what'll happen to his kids?"

He heard talk like this all the time. Back then he was simply curious.

"Did you hear? The Standfords are still around. And they're going to Ouran Academy starting this fall."

Then he was interested.

"Tamaki, I understand this is your first big case. I need you to be careful. I need you to protect Maria Standford." said his "boss" through the phone.

Then it was an obligation. Nothing more.

But then he met them. Then it became real. And he started to do the one thing no agent should ever do.

He started to care. One of his many flaws, the thing that constantly prevented him from moving up in status.

He cared too much.

Now it was personal. Now he was just as eager as Maria to know the truth. The outcome. This was the last hurrah.

So everyone held their breath and cocked their ears when Connor opened his mouth to speak.

* * *

It started a couple of years ago. Connor was curious. That's all.

"Dad, where are you going this time?" whined Maria, forever being the brat she was.

"His job requires him to travel a lot. We should just give him his privacy." Connor explained.

And that got Maria out of everyone's hair. With her out of the way it was his job to snoop around himself.

He followed his dad and watched him enter his home office. He watched through the crack in the door as his father started web chatting with a man. A man wearing a tie.

_It must be his boss_, Connor thought rationally.

The man on the screen started to speak.

"Agent Standford, when will you be reporting to Central America for your mission? I've set up a plane ticket, what's the problem?" the man said.

_Agent? As in, a spy? _thought Connor.

"I'm trying, sir. But, you see, it will soon be my son, Connor's, birthday. He's a great kid. He never complains about me being gone. But I know it would mean a lot to him if I stayed for his birthday party. Maybe even played some of his friends a little tune." Connor's dad explained.

Connor's heart leapt with joy. His father might stay! It would be so fun to have him around, to introduce all his friends to his dad, the musician. They would like that. They've heard so much about him.

"Your family gets in the way a lot these days, Standford." said the man.

Connor's heart sank.

"Right, I'm sorry. I'll be at the airport in half an hour."

Connor accidently leaned against the door too much, and he stumbled right into the room.

"Sorry, Dad, sorry. Oh my God, you're an agent? And you never told anyone? I'm sure Mom would be a lot more understanding if you told her, I mean…" he babbled on, way too excited to even notice the way the man on the screen turned red with anger.

"Connor, you have to leave. Don't tell anyone about this." his Dad whispered.

"But—"

"But nothing. I can't believe you would eavesdrop on me like that" his Dad was angry now. And Connor was sad.

"Sorry." he whispered again.

And his father left for the airport that same day.

**Maria's POV**

As Connor told the story of how he found out my dad was an agent, I was still seriously pissed. What did that have to do with killing the guy? Was he stalling? Calling in recruits so he could finish us all off?

And then my cellphone started ringing. Perfect timing.

I flipped it open and answered it right away.

"What do you want?" I yelled.

"What do I _want_? Where are you?" said Kyoya.

"In a hotel room with Tamaki." then as an afterthought I added, "Don't worry, he's gay."

"What? Since when?" I heard Haruhi say in the background.

"This is no time for jokes." Kyoya stated calmly, "What floor? You need to come back here right now, young lady."

And then that image from the plane of Kyoya being my mother came back to me. Giggling would not be appropriate at the moment, so I stifled the urge.

"Just, trust me on this, what I'm doing is important. Go back to the party and stall, pretty please?" I begged. I knew begging didn't work on the guy. But it was the only option I had.

I heard a sigh on the other line, and after a minute of silence I heard him say, "Fine."

Reliable. That's Kyoya for you.

"Thanks." and I hung up.

I turned to see everyone looking rather annoyed for taking a phone call in the middle of this "meeting". But I knew what happened when you didn't answer Kyoya's phone calls. Don't ask.

"Continue." I said rather coldly to the guy across the room, as if I wasn't the one to just take a phone call and interrupt him.

He looked a little off, then he nodded and continued

**Out of Maria's POV**

Connor kept his word. He didn't tell a soul. Then, for the first time in a long time, his father took him and Maria on a vacation to France. Their mom couldn't go because she had another meeting to go to.

"Have fun, love." she kissed her son on the cheek. Connor scrubbed his cheeks angrily.

"Be a good girl, you hear?" she said, talking to Maria.

"Okay, Dad, where are my flipflops?" Of course, she was barely listening.

"Oh! It appears I'm wearing them. I wondered why they were so small!" called their Dad from down the hall.

Their Mom chuckled, "Keep an eye on them, please. And, no going near fire, you little pyromaniac." she ruffled his hair fondly.

"Yeah, yeah." he smoothed out his hair. His mom needed to understand he was growing up. He was a big kid now.

He then started to walk out of the door but then at the last minute he ran up to her and hugged her, "Bye mommy." he whispered.

"Bye, Conner." she said.

Little did she know she would be saying goodbye to the Connor she knew and loved, for good.

They checked into the hotel room, and Connor's dad rushed to an empty bathroom with his phone. Connor, being curious, followed. He knew it was wrong, reckless. But this time he was determined not to get caught.

At first the conversation was boring. It was a bunch of "no, sirs" and "yes, sirs". Then there was one sentence that stuck out, "Yes, Connor knows, sir. But he's kept the secret so far—" his father was babbling now.

Then he became silent.

"Maria has no idea, sir. And I am almost certain no one told her." even Connor could hear the man on the phone as he yelled at his father.

"_Almost_? _You know what this means, Agent Standford!_"

And even Connor cringed, although he didn't know the meaning behind the words that were spoken.

"Yes sir. How many weeks do they have to live?"

Connor's heart sank. This couldn't be happening.

"Tonight? Sir, I can't possibly—" then there was more yelling, "Yes. We can blame it on an accident."

And then it happened. His father started to come towards the bathroom exit. Connor ran and met with Maria in the hotel room.

"Where have _you _been?" she questioned.

He didn't even dignify her with an answer as he thought of what to do next. From the sound of it, Maria was in danger as well.

Then his dad walked in and had a huge smile on his face. Connor's stomach lurched. How can the man be smiling so generously when he was given the order to kill his only children?

" I just ordered room service. How are you guys doing? Are you enjoying France so far?"

Maria smiled and nodded while Connor simply shook his head. His father frowned.

"What's wrong?" his father implored, and it made him all the more sick.

Connor wanted to scream in rage. He wanted to cower in fear. He wanted to cry with despair. Ultimately the one thought on his mind was: _I don't want to die. _He had so many options.

"I'm just a tired. I think I'm going to sleep early tonight." was his simple reply.

Seemingly satisfied, his dad just nodded and he turned to answer the knock on the door. The room service was here. He set down the trays.

"This soda isn't caffeine free. I think I'll go back to the kitchen and get it replaced." And with that lame excuse, Connor's dad headed out of the door.

Connor knew what came next. He'd poison the soda. He'd come back with a "new bottle". Maria would drink it. Connor wouldn't. His father would know that Connor knew. And then it all went downhill from there.

But there was something he could do to prevent it. He could save them both. But it would come at a price.

Connor would become a killer.

**Maria's POV**

I knew what happened next. As Connor told the tale I relived the night myself.

I left the room to wander the halls.

"I'm going exploring. This place is so cool. Did you know…"

"Yeah, yeah. Leave already."

Connor seemed to be in such a hurry to get me out of the room. I now realized I gave Connor more than enough time to poison by Dad's drink.

"You know, Dad's taking long time." I thought outloud. Connor solemnly nodded in agreement and I must have dialed the dude ten times, but got no response.

"Odd." I reasoned, nodding my head, satisfying myself with my choice of word.

Because now that I look back on it, that substantial amount of time wasn't really scary, or nerve-wracking. I knew nothing of the situation. It was simply…odd.

And then it seemed, not a milli-second later after I made my observation my dad came back.

He drank the tea.

He collapsed. We found a note that said "run".

And the rest was history.

* * *

"You were _protecting me_? You expect me to believe that when your carrying on with all of this!" I exclaimed, gesturing to the whole room, as if it was the sole reason any of this was occurring.

"I'm an agent now. I was instructed to take action." He said.

He couldn't be serious. How could he possibly _kill my father _to protect me from this agency, only to go and join the exact same agency to finish the job?

"Why?" I asked, voice echoing the little child I used to be.

"These are grown up things Maria, you wouldn't understand." He said. I hated that. There was someone who always used to say that to me. I wouldn't understand…

"Why are people always saying that? I'm not a little kid anymore, Connor! Face it, we all grow up. Seems to me you just got screwed up in the process." I was yelling again, not being able to help the newfound rage I felt.

And I'm sure all of it wasn't directed towards him.

"Where are you going, Daddy? My play performance is today."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I have to go to work. Love you."

"Can't you just," a pause to ponder an option, "Skip it?"

"I'm sorry. These are adult things. You wouldn't understand."

And sometimes I'd hear it. I swear I'd hear my dad's sorrows, multiplied times ten, never said aloud. I'd hear the guilt, the sounds would reverberate off the walls. It's as if he were a marked man.

"Daddy, why are you so sad?"

"Don't worry, darling. You wouldn't understand."

God, I hated it. I wanted to understand. Wanted so badly to comprehend what everyone else knew. Wanted so bad to make all of Daddy's pain go away. Wanted to be able to understand the meaning behind Mommy's sighs. Wanted to understand why Connor always had such a repulsed look on his face, every time he glanced into a mirror.

And now I do understand. And I somehow get why everyone wanted to leave me in the dark.

I now understood Tamaki's way of life as well. Ignorance was bliss.

And sometimes we were better off— happier, healthier, not knowing.

* * *

"I didn't have a choice, about joining, I mean." He said.

Yeah, that's what they all say.

"Really? I'm sure you could have turned down the offer." I said, trying to figure out what kind of offer would be good enough to draw Connor in.

He raised his eyebrows, "Offer? Is that what they call it these days? I'd call it a threat."

And now I was more compassionate, more interested.

"What? What _threat_?" I didn't seem half as menacing as I did couple of minutes ago.

It was then that Stephanie interjected. Rather calmly, she slinked her way over from the corner of the room, like a lion, or panther of some sort. And looked me straight in the eye.

"They threatened to kill you. They somehow knew Connor was responsible for your precious little daddy's death. And whenever the agency loses an agent they are always hasty to replace them. Connor was the perfect fit." She explained, then her voice became angry, "So I'd stop being ungrateful, because if Connor hadn't played along so nicely with them for all of these years," she paused, as if she had to think about it, "You'd be dead."

Everyone was silent. No one was expecting Stephanie to say _that_. To just summarize the situation in one sentence.

**Out of Maria's POV**

"Why exactly were you doing all of this? You were framing the host club, putting all of Ouran's students in danger!" Tamaki was borderline frantic. He couldn't bear to think what would have happened had Maria and he failed.

Tamaki remained mostly silent throughout the discussion.

Perfect, obedient.

Barely muttered a sentence.

But that composure was broken, the moment threats of death were being tossed around, as if they were all discussing the weather.

It was ridiculous. And he was especially tired of the lack of emotion coming from Connor's eyes.

They all deserved an answer, God dammit.

"Why would you threaten innocent people? What could have brought you to go _this far_?"

"It was a test." Connor answered simply.

"A test?"

"A test to see how capable you were."

Tamaki's eyes grew wide, "This was all a test for _me_." He choked out.

"And Maria," Stephanie added, "A test to see how capable you both were. And you both passed. We can now make the offer."

"The offer for what?" Maria's voice was shaky. Things weren't sounding too good.

"For Tamaki to move up a level, of course," she started, "And for you to replace me as his partner."

**Maria's POV**

They couldn't be serious. This was all some elaborate prank. How could they possibly expect me to join this agency, knowing how much it ruined the lives of others?

How could they expect me to throw away my freedom?

How could they expect me to disrespect them all? All of them joined under pressuring circumstances, versus me, who had nothing on the line.

But the question that weighed down on my mind the most was: _What was in it for me?_

And I felt extremely selfish for thinking that way.

As if on cue, Stephanie answered my question, "There's nothing in it for you." And then she winked.

And in that wink were a thousand words.

She obviously didn't agree with the company's ways, although she didn't say it out loud. Yet even I could tell she was obsessed. She wanted to move up in her ranks. Until one day she was close enough to the source of power.

So she could obliterate the agency from the inside out.

And it all became so clear. There was something in it for me. I could do the same.

I could solve missions. I could move up, level after level.

And when I was at the top, I could bring it all crashing down.

I saw Connor's eyes, sorrowful, willing me to refuse. I shrugged it off. He didn't understand.

And even Tamaki was staring at me, waiting for my answer, probably praying I wasn't thinking what my face was displaying.

And then there was Stephanie's wink. It reassured me. We weren't alone. Together we could all take the agency down. We could bring families back together. We could prevent the tragedy that happened to my family from ever happening to anyone ever again.

And I could be the leader of this movement. I could ultimately be the new superior.

And with that in mind I disregarded the pleading faces of Tamaki and Connor as I said,

"When can I start?"

* * *

**A/N: **The ending didn't include all the characters in it. (Where are the twins? Mori and Honey...and all those other people that don't matter as much?) BUT it was necessary. I needed to have this set-up for the sequel. I'm calling it **Secret Motives **and it's coming uber soon. It's in my head...I just need to get the words typed out in front of a computer screen. xD.

Thank you for reading! I appreciate you all :D.

Lovely people, really!

Okay, enough with my blabber. Bye now.


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